Nalemp

The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District Alaska awarded Orutsararmuit Native Council, Incorporated $324,128.84 under a Cooperative Agreement on September 26, 2025, through the Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP, CFDA 12.116).

ONC will conduct environmental impact assessments and remediation prioritization on Department of Defense-affected Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act lands in the Bethel region. The cooperative agreement runs through September 25, 2027, with performance in Bethel, Alaska.

NALEMP funds mitigation of environmental impacts on Indian lands and ANCSA-conveyed properties resulting from former DoD activities and facilities. The program addresses tribal concerns in DoD environmental management, including risks to subsistence activities and impacts from abandoned military structures and debris that may not rank as priority under standard environmental cleanup systems. DoD evaluates historic records, documents, and interviews to assess reported impacts; onsite investigation occurs when additional information is needed. All eligible sites are tracked in the NAMSEI system and screened annually for available funding.

ONC, a federally recognized Alaska Native tribal government headquartered in Bethel, operates across multiple federal grant programs spanning social services, environmental management, cultural preservation, and subsistence fisheries research. The organization receives recurring grants primarily from HHS for child welfare, aging services, and utility assistance programs, supplemented by environmental and subsistence research awards from the EPA, Department of Interior, and Corps of Engineers.