The Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC), formerly known as the Tribal Caucus, consists of members of 21 Native American tribes, supported by committee staff, to learn about and prepare for shipments of radioactive materials through or near tribal lands. TRMTC works with the DOE's National Transportation Stakeholder Forum (NTSF) and other entities to put forth tribal priorities and perspectives regarding these shipments. The committee began in the late 1980s as an avenue for tribes to learn about DOE shipments and to ensure the tribe's individual and collective concerns and priorities are considered in DOE's decision-making. In recent years, the committee's focus has expanded to include engagement with other federal and state agencies and private industry shipments of radioactive waste.
The NTSF brings together representatives of states, tribes, the DOE, other federal agencies, and various industry participants to share information related to DOE's shipments of radioactive materials and radioactive waste. Before 2009, DOE's national outreach to transportation stakeholders took place through the Transportation External Coordination Working Group, or the TEC/WG. When the DOE disbanded TEC/WG in early 2009, DOE's Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) organized the NTSF to preserve the department's efforts to plan collaboratively with state and tribal governments for these shipments.
The NTSF held its first meeting in Chicago, IL, in May 2010. More than 170 people participated, demonstrating the strong desire of states and tribes to remain engaged in transportation planning and information sharing. The NTSF holds an annual in-person meeting as well as webinars and conference calls of ad hoc working groups throughout the year. A Planning Committee directs NTSF activities and consists of representatives from several federal agencies, state regional organizations, and TRMTC. NTSF meetings focus specifically on discussing packaging and transportation, emergency management, security, inspection and enforcement, and radiation protection.
Additional information is on the NTSF website.