EPA SUPPLEMENTS PROPOSAL FOR FOUR CORNERS POWER PLANT 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF SUPPLEMENTAL PROPOSAL, COMMENT PERIOD, AND 

PUBLIC HEARINGS 

EPA-R09-OAR-2010-0683 

The Region 9 Office of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requests 

public comment on a Supplemental Proposal on the Source Specific Federal Implementation 

Plan for Implementing Best Available Retrofit Technology for Four Corners Power Plant 

(FCPP). The Clean Air Act’s Regional Haze Rule requires the use of Best Available Retrofit 

Technology (BART) at older coal-fired power plants to reduce haze and improve visibility. 

 

On February 9, 2011, EPA signed a Supplemental Notice that proposes to allow FCPP the option 

to close Units 1 – 3 by 2014 and to meet an emission limit for nitrogen oxides (NOx) of 0.098 

lb/MMBtu on Units 4 and 5 by July 31, 2018, in lieu of complying with our October 19, 2010 

proposed BART determination. This alternative emission control strategy will result in an 87% 

reduction in NOx emissions. Our Supplemental Notice provides our analysis and proposed 

determination that this alternative emission control strategy would result in more progress than 

EPA’s October 2010 BART proposal towards achieving the national visibility goal in the 

surrounding Class I areas. EPA requests comment on this Supplemental Proposal and is 

continuing to accept comment on October 2010 proposed BART determination. In this 

Supplemental Notice, EPA is announcing four public hearing events in the Four Corners area, 

and opening a public comment period on our Supplemental Proposal and extending the comment 

period for our October 2010 proposal to May 2, 2011. 

EPA’s October 19, 2010 proposal required the Four Corners Power Plant to reduce emissions of 

nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 80% and to reduce emissions of particulate matter (PM) by 57% to 

achieve cleaner, healthier air while improving the visibility at sixteen of our most pristine 

national parks and wilderness areas. EPA’s October 2010 proposal can be achieved by installing 

and operating selective catalytic reduction (SCR) on all five units and new PM control 

equipment of three of the five units at the facility. 

Following EPA’s BART proposal, on November 24, 2010, Arizona Public Service (APS), the 

operator and one of six co-owners of Four Corners Power Plant, proposed, as a BART 

alternative, to close Units 1 – 3 by 2014 and install SCR on Units 4 and 5 by 2018 to meet a NOx 

limit of 0.11 lb/MMBtu, contingent upon final lease agreements with the Navajo Nation, final 

coal purchase agreements with BHP Billiton, and federal and state approval of the acquisition by 

APS of Southern California Edison’s ownership share in Units 4 and 5. APS and BHP Billiton 

have pledged that closure of Units 1 – 3 will not result in any layoffs at the power plant or the 

mine. 

All information submitted by the facility is available as part of the administrative record. The 

supplemental proposal and supporting documents, as well as the October 2010 proposal, 

technical support document, and other supporting information are available on the EPA Region 9 

website at http://www.epa.gov/region9/air/navajo/index.html#proposed. The administrative 

record may also be viewed in person, Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, at the 
EPA Region 9 address below. Due to building security procedures, please contact Anita Lee at 

(415) 972-3958 or by email at r9air_fcppbart@epa.gov to arrange a visit at least 24 hours in 

advance. 

EPA is holding open houses – for the purpose of providing additional information and informal 

discussion of our proposal and supplemental proposal, and public hearings – to accept oral 

comments into the record, as follows: 

Date: March 29, 2011 

Time: Open House: 3:00 – 6:00 pm 

 Public Hearing: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm 

Location: Phil L. Thomas Performing Arts Center 

 Highway 64 West 

 Shiprock, New Mexico 87420 

Date: March 30, 2011 

Time: Open House and Public Hearing 9:00 am – 1:00 pm 

Location: Nenahnezad Chapter House – Multi-purpose Room 

Highway 64 to County Road 6675 to end of Navajo Route 365 

 Fruitland, New Mexico 

Date: March 30, 2011 

Time: Open House: 3:00 – 5:00 pm 

 Public Hearing: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm 

Location: San Juan College 

Henderson Fine Arts Bldg – Rooms 9006 & 9008 

 4601 College Blvd 

 Farmington, New Mexico 87402 

Date: March 31, 2011 

Time: Open House: 3:00 – 5:00 pm 

 Public Hearing: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm 

Location: Fort Lewis College 

Center of Southwest Studies - Lyceum Room 

1000 Rim Drive 

Durango, Colorado, 81301, 

Any person may provide written or oral comments, in English or Dine, and data pertaining to our 

proposal at the Public Hearing. English-Dine translation services will be provided at both the 

Open Houses and the Public Hearings on the Navajo Nation in Shiprock and Fruitland, as well as 

in Farmington, New Mexico. We will not provide English-Dine Translation services in Durango 

unless we receive a request to do so by March 14, 2011. 

If you require a reasonable accommodation, by March 14, 2011, please contact Terisa Williams, 

EPA Region 9 Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator, at (415) 972-3829, or 

Williams.Terisa@epa.gov. 
If you are unable to attend the public hearings, but wish to submit comments, you may submit 

comments by electronic mail or postal mail to the address listed below. All comments on the 

proposal must be received by email or postmarked on or before May 2, 2011. An extension of 

this comment period may be granted if a request for an extension adequately demonstrates that 

more time is required to give commenters a reasonable opportunity to prepare comments. 

Comments should address the October 2010 proposal or the February 2011 Supplemental 

Proposal, in particular: 

1. The available technologies to control PM or NOx; 

2. The cost of controls;

3. The energy, economic, and non-air quality impacts of controls; 

4. The existing controls at the facility;

5. The remaining useful life of the facility, and;

6. The degree of improvement in visibility which may reasonably anticipated to result from 

the use of such technology.

Any written comments must be received (if sent by e-mail) or postmarked (if sent by U.S. mail) 

on or before May 2, 2011 at the following addresses: 

E-mail: r9air_fcppbart@epa.gov 

 U.S. Mail: Anita Lee (AIR-3) 

 U.S. EPA Region 9 

 75 Hawthorne Street 

 San Francisco, CA 94105-3901 

All comments that are received will be included in the public docket without change and will be 

available to the public, 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 e-mail. If you send e-mail directly to the 

EPA, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the public 

comment. Please note that an e-mail or postal address must be provided with your comments if 

you wish to receive direct notification of EPA’s final decision regarding the permit and 

responses to comments submitted during the public comment period. 

EPA will consider all written and oral comments submitted during the public comment period 

before taking final action and will send notice of the final decision to each person who submitted 

comments and contact information during the public comment period or requested notice of the 

final decision. EPA will respond to all substantive comments in a document accompanying the 

final determination and will make the Public Hearing proceedings available to the public. 

If you have questions, please contact Anita Lee at (415) 972-3958 or email at 

r9air_fcppbart@epa.gov. 
Please bring the foregoing notice to the attention of all persons who would be interested in this 

matter.