The Air Division Director at EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, signed the following notice on 6/26/13, extending the comment period further 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 Public Comment Period 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Extended Comment Period. 

SUMMARY: On February 5, 2013, EPA proposed a Best Available 

Retrofit Technology (BART) determination for oxides of nitrogen 

(NOX) for the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), located on the 

Navajo Nation, and provided a three-month period for public 

comments, to close on May 6, 2013. The Navajo Nation, Gila River 

Indian Community, and other affected stakeholders requested a 

90-day extension of the comment period to allow time for 

stakeholders to develop an alternative to EPA’s proposed BART 

determination that achieves greater reasonable progress. On 

March 19, 2013, EPA extended the close of the public comment 

period to August 5, 2013. On June 10, 2013, EPA signed a notice, 

published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2013, of our 

intent to hold five public hearings in the state of Arizona. On 

June 20, 2013, Salt River Project (SRP), the operator and co-
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

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owner of NGS, submitted a letter on behalf of six stakeholders, 

including the Navajo Nation and Gila River Indian Community, 

describing the development of a stakeholder alternative, and 

requesting another extension of the comment period to allow the 

stakeholders additional time to finalize their alternative and 

submit it to EPA for consideration in the rulemaking process. 

EPA is extending the comment period for this proposed rulemaking 

by 60 days to October 4, 2013. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed BART determination for NGS must 

be postmarked no later than October 4, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-

OAR-2013-0009, by one of the following methods: 

(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions. 

(2) E-mail: r9ngsbart@epa.gov. 

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

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

CA 94105-3901. 

For more detailed instructions concerning how to submit 

comments on this proposed rule, and for more information on our 

proposed rule, please see the notice of proposed rulemaking, 

published in the Federal Register on February 5, 2013 (78 FR 

8274). 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

Page 3 of 8

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 

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 schedule five public hearings to 

accept oral and written comments on the proposed rulemaking. EPA 

intends to hold the public hearings at locations on the Navajo 

Nation and the Hopi Tribe, as well as in Page, Phoenix, and 

Tucson, Arizona. 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. 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

Page 4 of 8

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 

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, 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

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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. 

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. EPA, therefore, 

proposed to find that this alternative 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, the Gila River Indian Community, and 

numerous other 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 encouraged a robust public discussion of our proposed 

BART determination and alternative, as well as other possible 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

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alternatives, and recognized the potential need for a 

supplemental proposal if other approaches developed by other 

parties are identified as meeting the needs of stakeholders and 

meeting the requirements of the CAA. 

EPA received requests for a 90-day extension of the public 

comment period from the Navajo Nation, the Gila River Indian 

Community, and other stakeholders, in order to allow 

stakeholders time to develop alternatives to BART for EPA’s 

consideration. On March 19, 2013, EPA extended the close of the 

public comment period to August 5, 2013 (78 FR 16825). EPA 

recognized 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, would require a 

significant amount of time. EPA also recognized the critical 

importance of active participation by affected tribes located in 

Arizona in the development of alternatives to BART. 

On June 10, 2013, EPA signed a notice, published on June 

19, 2013, of our intent to hold five public hearings throughout 

the state of Arizona (78 FR 36716). EPA intends to hold hearings 

at one location each on reservation lands of the Navajo Nation 

and Hopi Tribe, and in Page, Phoenix, and Tucson, Arizona. 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

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On June 20, 2013, SRP submitted a letter, on behalf of six 

stakeholders, requesting another extension of the comment period 

for NGS.1 SRP describes working over the past several months with 

representatives from the Central Arizona Water Conservation 

District, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Gila River Indian 

Community, the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, 

and the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a BART 

alternative. SRP states that although significant progress has 

been made on the development of an alternative, additional time 

is needed to finalize their alternative and submit it to EPA for 

consideration in the rulemaking process. 

II. Today’s Action 

In today’s action, EPA is extending the comment period for 

our proposed BART determination for NGS by 60 days, to October 

4, 2013. EPA is granting a 60-day extension to allow time for 

the stakeholders to finalize their alternative and submit it to 

EPA for consideration in the rulemaking process. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 49 

 Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Indians, 

Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen Dioxide. 

                                                           

1

 See letter dated June 20, 2013 from Kelly J. Barr, SRP, to 

Jared Blumenfeld, EPA, re: Request for Extension of the Public 

Comment Period, Proposed Rule – Regional Haze Requirements for 

Navajo Generating Station Docket No. EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0009. 
This document is a prepublication version, signed by the Air Division Director for EPA Region 9, Deborah Jordan, on 6/26/13. We have 

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

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Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

June 26, 2013 /s/ 

Dated: Deborah Jordan, 

 Air Division Director, Region 9.