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PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES 

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

U.S. FOREST SERVICE

 

PETITION ASKING THE DEPARTMENTS OF INTERIOR AND AGRICULTURE FORMALLY TO 

CERTIFY TO THE U.S. EPA THAT VISIBILITY IMPAIRMENT IN SIXTEEN CLASS I NATIONAL 

PARKS AND WILDERNESS AREAS IS REASONABLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO POLLUTANT 

EMISSIONS FROM ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY’S FOUR CORNERS POWER PLANT 

IN NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO 

Respectfully Submitted by: 

NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, EARTHJUSTICE, 

SIERRA CLUB, SAN JUAN CITIZENS ALLIANCE, GRAND CANYON TRUST, 

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, DINÉ CARE, DOODA DESERT ROCK 

and WILD EARTH GUARDIANS 

February 16, 2010 

 The National Parks Conservation Association, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, San Juan Citizens 

Alliance, Grand Canyon Trust, Center for Biological Diversity, Diné CARE, Dooda Desert Rock and Wild 

Earth Guardians (Petitioners), in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 553(e), hereby petition the Departments of 

Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (DOA) formally to certify to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that 

impairment of visibility in at least sixteen Class I national parks and wilderness areas administered by the 

National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado,1

 is 

reasonably attributable to air pollutant emissions from Arizona Public Service Company’s coal-fired Four 

Corners Power Plant (Four Corners) in northwest New Mexico. 

 

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 Arches National Park (UT), Bandelier Wilderness (NM), Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness 

(CO), Canyonlands National Park (UT), Capitol Reef National Park (UT), Grand Canyon National Park 

(AZ), Great Sand Dunes National Monument (CO), La Garita Wilderness (CO), Maroon Bells Snowmass 

Wilderness (CO), Mesa Verde National Park (CO), Pecos Wilderness (NM), Petrified Forest National Park 

(AZ), San Pedro Parks Wilderness (NM), West Elk Wilderness (CO), Weminuche Wilderness (CO) and 

Wheeler Peak Wilderness (NM). 
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 This petition asks DOI and DOA to certify, based on recent modeling information, that the 

discharge of thousands of tons of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter from Four Corners 

into the air of northwest New Mexico is causing “reasonably attributable” visibility impairment in all of the 

sixteen Class I national parks and wilderness areas within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the plant. 

I. Background 

 Four Corners is a 2,060 megawatt coal-fired power plant located in the northwest corner of New 

Mexico, approximately 25 miles west of Farmington, New Mexico and approximately 35 miles south of 

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Four Corners has five separate generating units that were 

constructed between 1962 and 1970.2

 BART Visibility Monitoring Report for the Arizona Public Service 

Four Corners Power Plant, ENSR Corporation, January 2008 (“BART Report”), p. 1-1, Attachment 1. 

Every year Four Corners’ five generating units burn over ten million tons of coal, and, in that same span of 

time, discharge into the air of the Colorado Plateau approximately 42,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 

12,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 1,300 tons of particulate matter (PM), and 15 million tons of carbon 

dioxide. EPA emissions database at: http://camddataandmaps.epa.gov/gdm/index.cfm; Four Corners Power 

Plant BART Analysis for NOx and Particulate, January 2008, p. 6-3. Four Corners is the largest single 

source of air pollution in the state of New Mexico. Id. 

 Existing pollution control equipment at Four Corners Units 1 - 3 include low-efficiency venturi 

scrubbers for SO2 and PM removal. The pollution control equipment at Units 4 and 5 includes wet SO2

scrubbers and fabric filters (baghouses). Units 1-5 have early vintage low-NOx burners. BART Report, pp. 

1-1, 5-1, Attachment 1. 

 In 1977, Congress amended the Clean Air Act to provide national parks and wilderness areas with 

the highest degree of protection from air pollution. 42 U.S.C § 7472. The “Class I” status provided to the 

sixteen national parks and wilderness areas near the Four Corners plant meant, among other things, that 

existing visibility impairment in those areas would have to be eliminated. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7491-92. 

 

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 Although the Four Corners Power Plant is located within the Navajo Indian Reservation, it is entirely 

owned and controlled by private utility companies. Units 1-3 are owned 100% by Arizona Public Service 

Company (APS). Units 4 & 5 are co-owned by Southern California Edison (48%), APS (15%), Public 

Service Company of New Mexico (13%), Salt River Project (10%), El Paso Electric Company (7%), and 

Tucson Electric Power (7%). 74 Fed. Reg. 44315 (August 28, 2009). 
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 On November 30, 1979, the Department of Interior classified all of the national parks and 

wilderness areas in its jurisdiction within 300 kilometers of Four Corners as Class I airsheds where 

visibility is an important value. 44 Fed.Reg. 69,122, 69,126 (November 30, 1979); 40 C.F.R.§ 81.403 

(Arizona), § 81.406 (Colorado), § 81.421 (New Mexico), § 81.430 (Utah). On November 14, 1985, the 

Department of the Interior certified to EPA the existence of visibility impairment in all Class I areas within 

its jurisdiction in the lower 48 States, including all nine DOI administered Class I areas within 300 

kilometers of Four Corners that are impaired by the plume from the plant. Attachment 2, p. 4. 

 According to EPA’s regional haze regulations, “A single source that is responsible for a 1.0 

deciview change or more should be considered to ‘cause’ visibility impairment.” 40 C.F.R. Part 51, 

Subpart P, Appendix Y—Guidelines for BART Determinations Under the Regional Haze Rule, Section III 

A. 1. A deciview is a perceptually correct “haze index such that uniform changes in haziness correspond to 

uniform incremental changes in perception across the entire range of conditions, from pristine to highly 

impaired.” 40 C.F.R. § 51.301. APS’s regional haze CALPUFF modeling, submitted to the EPA in 

January of 2008, demonstrates that Four Corners is “causing” visibility impairment in all sixteen of the 

Class I areas that are within 300 kilometers of the plant. 

 As set forth in APS’s modeling, the cumulative impact of Four Corners’ current PM, NOx and SO2

emissions on visibility in the sixteen Class I areas was shown to be more than 25 deciviews – or over 25 

times greater than EPA’s causation threshold – on at least eight days every year. BART Report, p. 5-7, 

Attachment 1; November 20, 2009 NPS comments, p. 2, Attachment 3.

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 APS’s modeling also shows 

that, every year, visibility is impaired in each of the sixteen Class I areas individually by more than one 

deciview due to emissions from Four Corners. Of any BART eligible source evaluated to date, the 

National Park Service has found that Four Corners has the greatest visibility impact on Class I national 

parks of any single source of air pollution in the country. November 20, 2009 NPS comments, p. 3, 

Attachment 3. 

 

 

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 The Park Service, meanwhile, has determined that the modeling performed by APS grossly 

underestimated Four Corners’ visibility impacts. According to the Park Service’s independent analysis, air 

pollution from Four Corners impairs visibility in the sixteen Class I areas by more than 46 deciviews on at 

least eight days every year. Attachment 3, p. 2. 
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APS Four Corners Power Plant Baseline Emissions Visibility Impacts 

Class I Area 

8th High delta dv 

2001 2002 2003 Average 

Arches NP 2.13 1.87 1.93 1.98 

Bandelier WA 1.62 1.98 1.54 1.71 

Black Canyon of the Gunnison WA 1.15 1.63 1.54 1.44 

Canyonlands NP 2.46 2.16 2.13 2.25 

Capitol Reef NP 2.26 1.45 1.51 1.74 

Grand Canyon NP 1.47 0.87 0.89 1.07 

Great Sand Dunes NM 0.83 1.32 0.92 1.02 

La Garita WA 1.38 1.47 1.24 1.36 

Maroon Bells Snowmass WA 0.84 0.82 0.77 0.81 

Mesa Verde NP 2.94 3.47 3.11 3.17 

Pecos WA 1.59 1.59 1.47 1.55 

Petrified Forest NP 1.22 1.45 0.95 1.21 

San Pedro Parks WA 2.10 2.46 2.07 2.21 

Weminuche WA 1.65 2.26 1.78 1.90 

West Elk WA 1.09 1.43 1.13 1.22 

Wheeler Peak WA 1.19 1.23 1.16 1.20 

Totals 25.89 27.46 24.15 25.83 

 The modeling results of APS and the National Park Service are supported by recent photographs 

that show the massive plume of pollution that is emitted from the Four Corners plant, and photographs that 

show significant haze in the nearby parks such as Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon. The Four Corners 

plume and photographs of the resulting haze may be found in Attachment 4. 

 It is no surprise that APS’s modeling results show Four Corners’ PM, NOx and SO2 emissions are 

responsible for significant visibility impairment in the nearby sixteen Class I areas given the quantity and 

characteristics of pollution discharged from the plant. It is well-known that particulate matter scatters light 

and thus degrades visibility: “scattered light appears as whitish haze in the line of sight, obscuring the 

view.” 74 Fed. Reg 44316 (August 28, 2009). According to the Park Service, “white light will tend to look 

reddish or brownish in color after passing through a nitrogen dioxide haze.” Malm, “Introduction to 

Visibility,” 1999, p. 10. Turning to sulfur dioxide, the Park Service has also found “[t]he collinearity 

between SO2 emissions and visibility reduction is impressive.” Id. at 41. 

 Visitors to the Class I areas downwind of Four Corners often find their views impaired, thus 

corroborating the findings of APS’s dispersion modeling. For example, according to Mike Eisenfeld of the 

San Juan Citizens Alliance, 
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Having lived in Farmington, New Mexico for the past thirteen years I’ve had the opportunity to 

visit Mesa Verde, Canyonlands and Grand Canyon national parks. Last summer, when hiking in 

Mesa Verde, I was struck by the awful haze that came from the southern corridor from New 

Mexico. The haze was so thick at the point called Far View that I couldn’t see off into the distance 

towards Shiprock, New Mexico. I know that the Four Corners coal plant is a high source of 

nitrogen oxide that is connected to haze and reduces visibility. The poor air quality in the region 

saddens me. After all, these parks are our heritage and important resources. 

 James Zion with Dooda Desert Rock is also very familiar with the haze produced by the Four 

Corners plant, 

I frequently travel to Shiprock from Gallup on business. About 60 miles from Shiprock, the air is 

usually hazy, and in winter when inversions are common the horizon is yellowed with pollution. 

Much of this pollution seems to be coming from the Four Corners plant. Most recently, one 

January morning I noticed that the haze at the western edge of Mesa Verde was particularly bad. 

As an attorney who represents Navajo clients interested in tourism and economic growth, I am 

concerned that tourists will not want to visit this area because of all the pollution in the air. 

 According to Roger Clark with the Grand Canyon Trust, 

I’ve been hiking and traveling in and out of Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Petrified 

Forest and other parks and wilderness areas in the Four Corners region for the last 20 years. When 

the wind is blowing pollution from the Four Corners plant to these parks, visibility is seriously 

impaired. Only when the wind is coming from another direction is the clarity of the landscape 

anything like what it used to be. The number of days when views in these parks is clouded by 

pollution seems to be ever increasing. 

 

I’ve seen the haze in Mesa Verde from all different angles. There have been occasions when I 

couldn’t see Sleeping Ute Mountain or the view of Shiprock. Obscured visibility of Ute Mountain 

to me was appalling because it’s less than 10 miles away from Mesa Verde and there was a veiled 

haze enveloping the park with no other source but the Four Corners coal plant to the south. 

 In my work I fly from Phoenix to Denver (about 2-3 times a year over the last 5 years). The flight 

path often goes over Four Corners plant. I often see a plume of pollution extending from the Four 

Corners plant to Mesa Verde. 

II. Petition

 Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 553(e) and 40 C.F.R. § 51.302(c)(2), Petitioners formally petition the 

Departments of Interior and Agriculture to certify that impairment of visibility in the sixteen Class I areas 

within 300 kilometers of the Four Corners plant is reasonably attributable to pollutant emissions from the 

Four Corners plant. Petitioners request expedited action on this petition so that any certification triggering 

a 40 C.F.R. § 51.302 “reasonably attributable” BART analysis for Four Corners may be merged into, and 

not delay, EPA’s ongoing regional haze BART review process that EPA recently initiated through its 

August 28, 2009 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (74 Fed. Reg. 44313). 

 5 U.S.C. § 553(e) states, “[e]ach agency shall give an interested person the right to petition for the 
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issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule.” 5 U.S.C. § 551(4) defines the term “rule” as including, “the 

whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to 

implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy . . .” 

 In 1977, Congress amended the Clean Air Act to, among other things, declare: 

as a national goal the prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, 

impairment of visibility in mandatory class I Federal areas which impairment results from 

manmade air pollution. 

42 U.S.C. § 7491(a)(1). As part of its obligation to meet this goal, Congress required EPA to promulgate 

regulations to ensure that: 

each major stationary source which is in existence on August 7, 1977, but which has not 

been in operation for more than fifteen years as of such date, and which, as determined by 

the State (or the Administrator in the case of a plan promulgated under Section 7410(c) of 

this title) emits any air pollutant which may reasonably be anticipated to cause or 

contribute to any impairment of visibility in any [mandatory Class I] area, shall procure, 

install, and operate, as expeditiously as practicable (and maintain thereafter) the best 

available retrofit technology . . . for controlling emissions from such source for the 

purpose of eliminating or reducing any such impairment. 

42 U.S.C. § 7491(b)(2)(A). 

 Pursuant to the regulations promulgated by EPA to remedy existing visibility impairment, the 

Federal Land Manager of any mandatory Class I area may certify to the state or EPA that it is reasonable to 

attribute visibility impairment to a single, or small group of air pollution sources. Accordingly, 40 C.F.R. § 

51.302(c)(1) provides that “[t]he affected Federal Land Manager may certify to the State, at any time, that 

there exists reasonably attributable impairment of visibility in any mandatory Class I Federal area.” The 

certification should be directed to EPA when, as here, the visibility program is implemented by EPA on 

tribal lands in the absence of a Tribal Implementation Plan. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7410(c), 7491(b)(2)(A), 7601(a) 

and (d); Source Specific Federal Implementation Plan for Four Corners Power Plant, Navajo Nation, 72 

Fed.Reg. 25698, center column (May 7, 2007). The term “reasonably attributable visibility impairment” is 

defined as “visibility impairment that is caused by the emission of air pollutants from one, or a small 

number of sources.” 40 C.F.R. § 51.301. The term “visibility impairment” is defined as “any humanly 

perceptible change in visibility (light extinction, visual range, contrast, coloration) from that which would 

have existed under natural conditions.” Id. EPA is required to “identify and analyze for BART” any 

existing stationary facility that has been certified by the Federal Land Manager as causing reasonably 
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attributable visibility impairment. 40 C.F.R. § 51.300(b)(2), 40 C.F.R. § 51.302(c)(4), 52 Fed.Reg. 45132, 

45133 (November 24, 1987). 

 As noted above, EPA’s regional haze regulations state that “[a] single source that is responsible 

for a 1.0 deciview change or more should be considered to ‘cause’ visibility impairment.” 40 C.F.R. Part 

51, Subpart P, Appendix Y—Guidelines for BART Determinations Under the Regional Haze Rule, Section 

III A. 1. Applying this standard, 25 deciviews of visibility impairment across sixteen Class I areas caused 

by emissions from Four Corners alone is sufficient to establish reasonably attributable visibility 

impairment. The Department of Interior’s October 21, 2009 determination that a 2.34 deciview impairment 

caused by Xcel’s Sherco power plant in Minnesota was sufficient to trigger a reasonable attribution finding 

supports a similar conclusion here where the visibility impact is ten times greater. Attachment 5. 

 When presented with evidence that a source is causing visibility impairment in a national park, the 

Park Service’s Organic Act establishes an affirmative duty on the part of the Park Service to take action. 

According to 16 U.S.C. § 1, 

The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas 

known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified by such 

means and measures as conform to the fundamental purposes of the said parks, 

monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural 

and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same 

in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of 

future generations. 

(Emphasis added.) 

 The Park Service has acknowledged this obligation. According to the NPS’s Management Policy 

at Section 4.7.1: 

The National Park Service has a responsibility to protect air quality under both the 1916 

Organic Act and the Clean Air Act (CAA). Accordingly, the Service will seek to 

perpetuate the best possible air quality in parks to (1) preserve natural resources and 

systems; (2) preserve cultural resources; and (3) sustain visitor enjoyment, human health, 

and scenic vistas. Vegetation, visibility, water quality, wildlife, historic and prehistoric 

structures and objects, cultural landscapes, and most other elements of a park 

environment are sensitive to air pollution and are referred to as “air quality-related 

values.” The Service will actively promote and pursue measures to protect these 

values from the adverse impacts of air pollution. In cases of doubt as to the impacts 

of existing or potential air pollution on park resources, the Service will err on the 

side of protecting air quality and related values for future generations. 

(Emphasis added.) 

 The Secretary of the Interior also has an affirmative duty under the Park System Resources 
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Protection Act to “undertake all necessary actions” to curb air pollution from any source that is injuring the 

sixteen Class I areas near the Four Corners plant. As set forth in the Park System Resources Protection Act 

at 16 U.S.C. § 19jj-2(b)(1), 

The Secretary shall undertake all necessary actions to prevent or minimize the 

destruction, loss of, or injury to park system resources, or to minimize the imminent risk 

of such destruction, loss, or injury. 

 The Secretary of Agriculture has a similar affirmative duty under the Clean Air Act to remedy 

past, and prevent future, visibility impairment in the Class I areas within his jurisdiction. 42 U.S.C. § 7491. 

As described in Senate Report No. 95-127, 95th Congress, 1st Session, 1977, 

The Federal Land Manager holds a powerful tool. He is required to protect Federal lands 

from deterioration of an established value, even when Class I [increments] are not 

exceeded. ... While the general scope of the Federal Government’s activities in 

preventing significant deterioration has been carefully limited, the FLM should assume 

an aggressive role in protecting the air quality values of land areas under their 

jurisdiction. In cases of doubt the land manager should err on the side of protecting the 

air quality-related values for future generations. 

 As demonstrated above, the Department of the Interior, through its Park Service, should certify to 

EPA that visibility impairment is reasonably attributable to pollutant emissions from Four Corners in the 

nine Class I areas it administers that are within 300 kilometers from the Four Corners plant. The 

Department of Agriculture should make a similar certification with respect to the seven Class I areas it 

administers that are within 300 kilometers from the Four Corners plant. The Departments of Interior and 

Agriculture have an affirmative duty to make these certifications due to APS’s own modeling evidence that 

demonstrates Four Corners causes significant, reasonably attributable visibility impairment to each of these 

priceless Class I areas alone, and in combination. 

III. Conclusion

 It is uncontested that thousands of tons of visibility impairing pollutants are discharged from the 

smoke stacks of Four Corners every year. Because of Four Corners’ proximity to sixteen Class I areas 

within 300 kilometers, and the thousands of tons of pollution discharged by the plant every year, much of 

this pollution inevitably enters, and impairs the beauty of, these national treasures. Now is the time for the 

Departments of Interior and Agriculture to take this important step to remedy reasonably attributable 

visibility impairment in the parks and wilderness areas of the Colorado Plateau to benefit this and all future 

generations. 
Dated: February 16, 20 10 FOR PETITIONERS, 

Reed Zars 

Attorney at Law 

9 10 Keainey Street 

Laranlie, WY 82070 

307-745-7979 

FOR NPCA, 

Stephanie Kodish 

Clean Air Counsel 

NPCA 

706 Walnut Street, Suite 200 

Knoxville, TN 37902 

865-329-2424 

Center for Biological Diversity 

Amy Atwood 

Senior Attorney, Public Lands Energy Director 

PO Box 1 1374 

Portland OR 972 1 1 

503-283-5474 

Dine CARE 

Anna Fraizer 

Coordinator 

HCR-63 BOX 263 

Winslow, AZ 86047 

928-380-7697 

Dooda Desert Rock 

Elouise Brown 

President 

PO Box 7838 

NewComb, New Mexico 87455 

505-947-61 59 

Earthj ustice 

Janette Brimmer 

Attorney 

705 Second Ave., Suite 203 

Seattle, WA 98 104 

206-343-7340 
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Grand Canyon Trust 

Roger Clark 

Air and Energy Program Director 

2601 N. Fort Valley Road 

Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 

928-774-7488 

San Juan Citizens Alliance 

Mike Eisenfeld 

New Mexico Energy Coordinator 

108 North Behrend, Suite I 

 Farmington, NM 87401 

505-325-6724 

Sierra Club 

Bill Corcoran 

Southwest Director, Beyond Coal Campaign 

3435 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 660 

Los Angeles, CA 90010 

213-387-6528 

WildEarth Guardians 

Jeremy Nichols 

Climate and Energy Program Director 

1536 Wynkoop, Suite 301 

Denver, CO 80202 

303-573-4898 

ATTACHMENTS 

1. January, 2008, BART Visibility Monitoring Report for the Arizona Public Service Four Corners 

Power Plant, ENSR Corporation (“BART Report”), excerpts. 

2. November 14, 1985, Department of the Interior certification of impairment. 

3. November 20, 2009 NPS comments. 

 

4. Pictures of Four Corners plume and nearby haze. 

5. Department of Interior’s October 21, 2009 Sherco reasonable attribution determination. 

 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify that on this 16"' day of February, 20 10, I caused to be sent via overnight delivery a copy 

of the foregoing petition and attachments to the first three addressees below, and via First Class U.S. Mail 

to the remaining addressees. Additionally, all addressees will be served with an electronic copy of the 

foregoing on February 17, 20 10. 

Secretary Ken Salazar 

Department of the Interior 

1849 C Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20240 

Secretary Tom Vilsack 

Department of Agriculture 

1400 Independence Ave., S.W. 

Washington, DC 20250 

Lisa Jackson, Administrator 

United States Environmental Protection Agency 

Ariel Rios Building 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20460 

Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator 

U.S. EPA Region 9 

75 Hawthorne Street 

San Francisco, CA, 94 105 

Carol Rushin, Regional Administrator 

U.S. EPA Region 8 

1595 Wynkoop St 

Denver, CO 80202-1 129 

Al Armendariz, Regional Administrator 

U.S. EPA, Region 6 

1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200 

Mail Code: 6PD-U 

Dallas, TX 75202-2733 

Ron Curry, Secretary 

New Mexico Environment Department 

t-larold L. Runnels Building 

1190 St. Francis Drive, Suite N4050 

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 

Martha Rudolph, Executive Director 

Colorado Department of Public Health and 

Environment 

4300 Cheny Creek Drive South 

Denver, Colorado 80246-1530 

Amanda Smith, Executive Director 

Utah Department of Environmental Quality 

168 North 1950 West 

P.O. Box 144810 

Salt Lake City, LIT 84 1 14-4810 

Benjamin Grumbles, Director 

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality 

Phoenix Main Office 

11 10 W. Washington St. 

Phoenix, AZ 85007 

Reed Zars