DULUTH, Minn. (AP) – A Native American reservation in northern Minnesota has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to increase air quality protection in the area.

Minnesota Public Radio News reports that officials of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa want the agency to give increase the reservation’s designation under the Clean Air Act. The Class I designation enforces the strictest air standards in the country. It’s usually given to national parks and wilderness areas.

Fond du Lac Air Program Coordinator Alex Jackson said the band would become the sixth tribe nationwide to achieve the status if the agency approves the request. The designation wouldn’t affect existing power plants and other facilities that release major air emissions, but it would mandate stronger pollution controls on new projects near the reservation.

The reservation is located near Duluth. It was established in 1854.

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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mprnews.org