Indeed, afni_proc.py can be used with "-combine_method m_tedana" to run the MEICA group's tedana as part of the step to combine echoes. See
APMULTI_Demo1_rest/scripts_desktop/do_26_ap_me_bT.tcsh for an afni_proc.py command script, including use of that combine method.
In any case, tedana creates the NIFTI datasets generally using nibabel, which writes an sform_code of 2, which has an ambiguous space (orig vs standard). AFNI can be told to interpret that as being in orig space by setting AFNI_NIFTI_VIEW to "orig" (in the command, the shell environment or the ~/.afnirc file). If you continue to run afni_proc.py only after tedana, it would be reasonable to set it at the top of that command script (or in your .afnirc).
- rick