### Debbie J or dan Dir ect or A ir Division EP A Re gion9 Fe bruar y 8, 2012 1

# Backgr ound on B AR T  

### CleanA ir

Ac t e stablished a go al to achieve natur al backgr ound visibility (i.e., no manmade v isibility impairment) by

206 4 in mandat or y class I F eder al ar eas .  

### Ther e a re 156 Class I ar eas a cr oss t he co untr y. Class I ar eas a re national par ks a nd wilderness a re as (i.e., Gr and Can yo n).  

### To a chieve t his go al, the Best A va ilable R etr of

it T echnolog y (BAR T) pr ov isions o f the Re gional Haze Ru le re quir e re ductions int he e missions o f air

p ollutants t hat

i mpact v isibility .  

### These re ductions a re re quir ed at BAR T - eligible s our ce s a nd ar e usuall y a cco mplished by

installationo f co ntr ol te chnolog y.

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# Backgr ound on B AR T
 The v isibility - impairing pollutants a re : sulfur d io xide (SOx), nitrog en ox ides (NOx), and particulate m atter ( PM). T hese s ame p ollutants a re a co nc ernf

or humanhealth.  BA RT - eligible s ourc es a re ve ry larg e, old sour ce s of

NOx a nd SOx (mostl y u tilities but

a lso s ourc es l ike ce ment p lants a nd lime kilns).  The o nly

two BA RT - eligible s ourc es o n t he N avajo Na tiona re Nava jo Gener ating Station and the F our Corners P owe r Plant.

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# Backgr ound on B AR T
 A BAR T a nalysis requires co nsider ationo f fi ve factors:  Costs o f co mplianc e (i.e. co st e ffecti ve ness)  The e nerg y a nd non - air q uality e nv ironmental impacts o f co mplianc e  An y p ollutionc ontrol equipment inu se a t t he s ourc e  The re maining useful life o f the s ourc e  The d egr ee o f improvement i n visibility

( i.e. visibility

b enef its).
 BA RT d eterminations c anbe d ifferent f or d ifferent p owe r plants and for d ifferent u nits. The u nits a nd situations a t NGS and F CP P are very d ifferent f rom each other

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# Na va jo Gener at ing St at ion  One o f the larg est

e mitters of

v isibility - impairing nitrog en ox ides in the U .S.  Impacts 11 Class I areas, including the Gr and Can yo n.  EP A has already

f inalized rules t hat

m ade SO2 emissionl imits enforc eable a t NGS.  As a re sult, the main pollutants o f co nc ernf or v isibility p urposes are no w nitrog en

ox ides a nd particulate m atter .

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# BA RTPr ocess  

### EP A’ s re sponsibility

is to d et ermine what

co nstitut es BAR

T for NGS based onthe 5 - fact or a nalysis  

### Whenco mplet e EP

A will publisha proposal witho ur BAR T det erminationa nd our

a nalysis for

p ublicco mment  

### EP A will co nduct

T ribal C onsultations, host p ublic informationmeetings, and host p ublichearings to hear co mments o n the implications to thosea ffect ed by the BA RT d et erminationfor

NGS  

### EP A will car efull

y co nsider

a ll input before making a fi nal decisiono n BA RT

for NGS
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# BA RTDet ermina tion St at us  EP A has not

ye t p roposed BAR

T for NGS.  EP A begang athering informationf or o ur BAR T d et erminationinAugust 2009 with thep ublicationo f a request for informationon NGS (Advanc ed No tic e o f Proposed Rulemaking, 7 4 FR 44313).  EP A co nducted sever al Gov ernment t o Gov ernment T ribal Consultations with various T

ribes b eginning inAugust 2009.  EP A hired ane co nomist

to help u s wo rk through thee co nomici ssues ra ised by t hetribes, theu tilities, thes tates, CAP and Bureau of R eclamation.  EP A re ce ntly

re ce ive d sever al re ports ( NREL Study from DOI, U pdated BA RT a nalysis from SRP

, and Har ve y Ec onomics Re port f rom Gila River) that

we a re c urrently

r eviewing .  Wheno ur

a nalysis is co mplete, EP A will published a proposed det erminationo f BA RT

for NGS.

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# Signific an t Issues

 Cost o f implementing BAR

T a nd other

p ollutionc ontrols nec essary

for co mplianc e w ith re ce nt EP A rules ( MA

Ts ).  How d o t hese co sts impact T ribes?  Impacts o n T

ribal wa ter

r ights s ettlement

a gr eements a nd co st of water .  Impacts to Nava jo N ationa nd H opi Tr ibe from NGS revenue and emplo yment.  How d o t hese co sts impact ra te p aye rs?  Fe der al gove rnment

( BOR) is p art

ow ner o f NGS (24.3%).  Ownership c hang es w ill oc cur in the future; LA DW P ow ns 21.2% of NGS wh ich they

ha ve to s ell due to CA re quirements.

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# Tr ibal Consult at ion  EP A will co ntinue to co nduct G ove rnment

t o Go ve rnment

T ribal Consultation with Tr ibes in ac co rd anc e w ith EP A Tr ibal P olic y thr oughout

t he BAR T p rocess.  EP A will also be available for meetings a nd informal discussions a s needed  EP A is asking for

T ribal input

a s we s eek

to u nderstand the impact o f co st o f co ntrols a t NGS on Tr ibes.  Impact

to wa ter r ights s ettlements  Impact

o n t ribal re ve nues a nd emplo yment o pportunities  EP A will host

informational publicmeetings a nd publichearings o n Nava jo N ationa nd inPag e, AZ, wh enwe issue a p roposed BAR T det erminationf

or NGS.
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# EP A Con ta ct In fo rma tion  Air Division Manag ement

L ead:  Colleen M cKaughan, Associat e D irector o f Air Division, mckaughan.c olleen@epa.g ov , 520 - 49 8 - 0118.  Gener al/T

echnical Information

o n NGS BAR

T r ulemaking :  Anita L ee, Air Division, lee.anita@epa.g ov , 41 5 - 972 - 3958.

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