UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION IX 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105·3901

OFFICE OF THE 

## JUN 3 0 2011 REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR
The Honorable Louis Manuel, Jr. Chairman ofthe Ak-Chin Indian Community 42507 West Peters & NaIl Road Maricopa, Arizona 85138
Dear ChairmanManuel: Thank you for the letter ofMarch 1, 2010 sentby your General Counsel providing information onthe potential economic impact to the Ak-Chin Indian Community ofnew air pollution controls at the Navajo Generating Station in response to the EPA's Advanced Notice ofProposed Rulemaking to implement the Best Available RetrofitTechnology requirement ofthe Regional Haze Rule on the Four Corners Power Plant and NGS. By letter dated November 13, 2009, the Acting Regional Administrator of Region IXinvited each Tribe in Arizonato engage in consultation on NGS. From the resulting discussions in 2009 and 2010, Iunderstand that many Tribes in Arizona are concerned aboutthe potential effects ofourrulemaking on Tribal water settlement agreements. The EPA is currently conductingan economic analysis to inform our determination ofthe appropriate control technology as BARTfor NGS. Because ofthe potential impact ofourrulemaking, in accordance with the Federal trust obligation to Indian Tribes and EPA's May4,2011 consultationpolicy, I invite the Communityto engage in further government-to-government consultationprior to ourproposed rulemaking for NGS. Consultation between the leaders ofthe Community and senior management at the EPA is critical for the EPA to fully understand the unique impactthis rulemaking may have onTribes. Becausethe EPA Region IX is developing the Federal Implementation Plan to implementthe BART requirementfor NGS, Administrator Jackson has determined that consultation should occur within the regIOn. Ifyou wishto engagein government-to-governmentconsultation on NGS, please have your staffcontact Ms. Laura Mayo at (415) 947-3561. Ms. Mayo will work with your office to schedule a meeting for me with you and your advisors to initiate consultation. The EPA has received requests for consultation from otherTribes in Arizona, and my goal is for initial consultation meetings with Tribes to occur during my visit to Phoenix in August. At your request, my staffwill also invite representatives from the Department ofInterior to participate in any or all ofour consultation meetings.
I am aware ofthe important role NGS serves to the Central Arizona Project, and my staffis working to more fully understand the relationship between CAP and the water settlement agreements that are unique to each Tribe in Arizona. To that end, I am enclosing a spreadsheet that requests information on the Community's water sources, as well as projected volume and cost estimates from 2009 2035 for each water source. Participation is entirely voluntary and this information will help us document and assess the potential additional impacts ofour rulemaking options on all Tribes receiving water from CAP. Ifyou choose to engage in consultation with the EPA and electto provide this information, I respectfully requestto receive this information early in the consultation process. I am committed to

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### consulting with all affected Tribes that request government-to-government consultation prior to our proposed rulemaking.
Ilook forward to meeting with you should you choose to engage in consultation onNOS. In 

### the meantime, ifyou have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at (415) 947-8702, or have your staffcontact Ms. Colleen McKaughan, Associate Director for the Air Division, at (520) 498-0118, or Mr. Nate Lau, AssociateDirector for the Communities and Ecosystems Division, at (415) 972-3839.

Enclosure