A Lake County Indian tribe is building a gas station on Highway 20 without local oversight or input, raising concerns about environmental and economic impacts.
“No one should be exempt from environmental controls,” said Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown.

Robinson Rancheria officials on Monday did not return phone calls seeking comment on the gas station being built across the road from their casino and adjacent to land slated to be returned to wetlands.

The two-acre site just east of the town of Upper Lake has been graded and gasoline storage tanks have been installed below ground, Brown said. He said he’s been told by construction workers that they had to fill the tanks with water to prevent them from popping up, a problem common to the notoriously soggy ground north of Clear Lake.

County officials said the tribe did not notify them of its plans. “We just saw it when staff was driving by,” said Rick Coel, director of Community Development. Nor have tribal officials responded to county requests for information about the project, county officials said.

Indian tribes typically are exempt from local and most state controls on tribal lands because they’re considered sovereign nations. But local officials said they are surprised the tribe would not discuss building on a site they know is designated for wetlands restoration.

The county has been purchasing property — largely farmland used to grow rice — between Rodman Slough and Highway 20 for the wetlands project, which is intended to improve the water quality of Clear Lake. There also is concern about possible failure of the aging levee system that protects the area much of the year.

Typically, a gas station proposal would be subjected to numerous of state and local evaluations. But tribes, for the most part, are subject only to federal regulations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for gas stations on federal lands. EPA officials who deal with tribal issues could not be reached Monday to explain how closely they monitor the construction and operation of gas stations on tribal lands.

According to its website, the EPA works directly with 50 tribes nationwide that operate gas stations with underground storage tanks.

It’s also unclear how well the gas pumps will be monitored for emissions and accuracy. Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said the tribes are not exempt from state air quality regulations but his agency has no enforcement authority. The tribe would have to agree to inspections, he said.
The state Agriculture Department, which normally monitors gasoline prices and quality at the pumps, also has no legal authority on tribal land, said spokesman Steve Lyle.

“Can they bring in leaded fuel” even though it’s banned in California? he said.
One of the few state permits required of the tribe is from Caltrans authorizing access from the property directly on to Highway 20, the major east-west thoroughfare through Lake County. Caltrans spokesman Phil Frisbie said his agency is in discussions with the tribe on road improvements that would be required if access to the station is from the highway. The tribe also has considered using a narrow county side road for access to avoid improvements to the state highway, he said.

Local officials also are concerned that the tribal gas station will have an unfair business advantage because it’s able to avoid most state and local permits.
Mohammed Hussain spent several years and $5.4 million on his nearby gas station and “travel plaza” at the corner of Highway 20 and Highway 29.
“It’s just unfair,” Brown said.

Hussain said he isn’t upset about that issue and welcomes any new business. But he is concerned about reports that tribal gas stations are not not paying state sales tax on the gasoline they sell, allowing them to offer lower prices.
The Fresno Bee reported in July that a San Joaquin Valley tribe intended to avoid paying state taxes of up to 35 cents per gallon. But the state Board of Equalization states that tribal gas stations are required to pay the same taxes as other stations.

However, “enforcement is always a challenge,” said spokeswoman Anita Gore.