The EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, signed the following notice on 3/8/13, extending the comment period by 90 

days for a February 5, 2013 proposed rulemaking (78 FR 8274), and EPA is submitting it for publication in the Federal Register (FR). While 

we have taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this Internet version of the notice, it is not the official version of the notice. Please refer to the 

official version in a forthcoming FR publication, which will appear on the Government Printing Office's FDsys website 

(http://fdsys.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action) and on Regulations.gov (http://www.regulations.gov) in Docket No. EPA-R09-OAR-2013-

0009. Once the official version of this document is published in the FR, this version will be removed from the Internet and replaced with a link 

to the official version. 

6560-50-P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 49 

[EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0009; FRL-] 

Approval of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Navajo Nation; 

Regional Haze Requirements for Navajo Generating Station; 

Extension of Comment Period 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; Extension of Comment Period. 

SUMMARY: On February 5, 2013, the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) proposed a source-specific federal implementation 

plan (FIP) requiring the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), 

located on the Navajo Nation, to reduce emissions of oxides of 

nitrogen (NOx) under the Best Available Retrofit Technology 

(BART) provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) in order to 

reduce visibility impairment resulting from NGS at 11 National 

Parks and Wilderness Areas. EPA provided a 90-day public comment 

period for the proposed rule that is scheduled to close on May 

6, 2013. The Navajo Nation and other stakeholders have submitted 

requests to extend the comment period an additional 90 days to 

allow time for interested parties to explore alternatives to 

BART that provide additional flexibility and also ensure greater 

reasonable progress than would be achieved under BART. In 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, on 3/8/13. We have 

taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this version, but it is not the official version. 

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today’s action, EPA is extending the comment period an 

additional 90 days. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed rulemaking published on 

February 5, 2013 (78 FR 8274) must be submitted no later than 

August 5, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by docket number EPAR09-OAR-2013-0009, by one of the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions. 

 E-mail: r9ngsbart@epa.gov. 

Mail or deliver: Anita Lee (Air-2), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 

CA 94105-3901. 

Instructions: All comments will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 

provided, unless the comment includes Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Information that you consider CBI or 

otherwise protected should be clearly identified as such and 

should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 

www.regulations.gov is an “anonymous access” system, and EPA 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, on 3/8/13. We have 

taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this version, but it is not the official version. 

Page 3 of 7

will not know your identity or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail 

directly to EPA, your e-mail address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the public comment. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and 

cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to 

consider your comment. 

Hearings: EPA intends to hold public hearings, at least 30 

days prior to the close of the comment period, to accept oral 

and written comments on the proposed rulemaking. EPA will 

provide notice and additional details related to the hearings in 

the Federal Register, on our website, and in the docket for this 

proposed rulemaking. 

Docket: The index to the docket for this action is 

available electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy 

at EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. 

While documents in the docket are listed in the index, some 

information may be publicly available only at EPA Region 9 

(e.g., maps, voluminous reports, copyrighted material), and some 

may not be publicly available in either location (e.g., CBI). To 

inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an appointment 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, on 3/8/13. We have 

taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this version, but it is not the official version. 

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during normal business hours with the contact listed in the FOR 

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita Lee, EPA Region 9, 

(415) 972-3958, r9ngsbart@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, “we”, 

“us”, and “our” refer to EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

II. Today’s Action 

I. Background 

NGS is a coal-fired power plant located on the Navajo 

Nation Indian Reservation, just east of Page, Arizona, 

approximately 135 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Emissions 

of NOx from NGS affect visibility at 11 National Parks and 

Wilderness Areas that are designated as Class I federal areas, 

mandated by Congress to receive heightened protection. NGS is 

subject to the BART requirement of the CAA and the Regional Haze 

Rule based on its age and its effects on visibility in Class I 

areas.1

 

 

1

 Please refer to 78 FR 8274 (February 5, 2013) for additional 

background information related to NGS, regional haze and the 

protection of visibility at mandatory Class I federal areas, and 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, on 3/8/13. We have 

taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this version, but it is not the official version. 

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On February 5, 2013, EPA proposed a BART determination to 

require NGS to achieve a nearly 80 percent reduction of its 

current overall NOX emission rate. EPA also proposed an 

alternative to BART that would provide flexibility to NGS in the 

schedule for the installation of new post-combustion control 

equipment. EPA’s proposed alternative to BART credits NGS for 

its early and voluntary installation of new combustion controls 

to reduce NOX emissions beginning in 2009 and therefore achieves 

greater reasonable progress than BART. 

In recognition that there may be other approaches that 

could result in equivalent or better visibility benefits than 

BART, as well as the singular importance of NGS to the Navajo 

Nation, Hopi Tribe, and other numerous tribes located in 

Arizona, EPA also outlined a framework for evaluating other 

alternatives to provide greater flexibility than EPA’s proposed 

alternative to BART. EPA requested comment on Alternatives 2 and 

3 that provide until 2025 or 2026 for compliance but would 

require the owners of NGS to implement additional emission 

reductions in order to assure greater reasonable progress than 

would otherwise be achieved under BART. 

 

the statutory and regulatory framework for addressing visibility 

impairment from sources located in Indian country. 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, on 3/8/13. We have 

taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this version, but it is not the official version. 

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EPA encouraged a robust public discussion of our proposed 

BART determination and alternative, as well as Alternatives 2 

and 3, and recognized the potential need for a supplemental 

proposal if Alternatives 2 or 3, or other approaches developed 

by other parties, are identified as meeting the needs of 

stakeholders and meeting the requirements of the CAA. 

On February 15, 2013, Salt River Project (SRP), co-owner 

and operator of NGS, requested a 90-day extension of the public 

comment period. SRP stated that identifying and analyzing 

alternatives and discussing options with interested parties 

would require a significant amount of time. On February 21, 

2013, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) 

submitted a similar request for a 90-day extension of the 

comment period.2 On March 1, 2013, the Navajo Nation also 

requested a 90-day extension of the comment period in order to 

allow the Navajo Nation the time and opportunity to participate 

with NGS owners and other stakeholders in examining the 

 

2

 The CAWCD manages the Central Arizona Project, a water 

delivery system that relies on electricity from NGS to pump 

surface water from the Colorado River for use by numerous tribes 

in Arizona, as well as agricultural, municipal, and industrial 

water users. Please refer to 78 FR 8274 (February 5, 2013) for 

additional information about CAWCD and its relationship to NGS 

and tribes located in Arizona. 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the EPA Regional Administrator for Region 9, Jared Blumenfeld, on 3/8/13. We have 

taken steps to ensure the accuracy of this version, but it is not the official version. 

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feasibility of additional alternatives, including Alternatives 2 

and 3. 

II. Today’s Action 

 EPA recognizes that the stakeholder process, to develop 

viable alternatives to BART that provide additional flexibility 

to the owners of NGS while achieving more emission reductions to 

assure greater reasonable progress than BART, will require a 

significant amount of time. EPA also recognizes the critical 

importance of active participation by the Navajo Nation, the 

Hopi Tribe, and other affected tribes located in Arizona in the 

development of alternatives to BART. Therefore, EPA is extending 

the comment period by an additional 90 days. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 49 

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 

Air pollution control, Indians, Intergovernmental relations, 

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. 

03/08/13 /s/ 

Dated: Jared Blumenfeld, 

 Regional Administrator, Region 9.