August 15, 2012

Jared Blumenfeld

Region IX Administrator

Environmental Protection Agency75 Hawthorne Street

San Francisco, CA 94105

Re: Concerns Regarding Preliminary Best Available Retrofit Technology Rulemaking for

Navajo Generating Station

Dear Mr. Blumenfeld,

Thank you for meeting with us on August 7th and for your commitment to continued consultation

in connection with EPA’s Navajo Generating Station (NGS) Best Available Retrofit Technology(BART) rulemaking. it was encouraging to hear that EPA remains committed to issuing the

preliminary BART by the end of Summer 2012.

I appreciate EPA’s acknowledgment that its BART decision will impact the Community and

other Arizona Indian tribes and EPA’s recognition that its trust obligations and the “non-air

quality impacts” of EPA’s BARI decision on tribes compels EPA to remain flexible in making

and implementing its BART determination. The Community believes this flexibility is warranted

and necessary in order to create a “glide path” fbr the implementation of BART so that the

United States can establish a mechanism to mitigate the impacts of’ EPA’s BART determination

oii the Community.

As we have made abundantly clear in the BART rulemaking process to date and confirmed at our

recent meeting, the role that NGS plays in the Congressionally-approved Arizona Water

Settlements Act makes the plant unique, and a decision to impose EPA’s BART decision to select

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) as BART will have severe economic consequences fur the

Community. Putting aside these economic consequences, the Community remains unconvinced

that the benefits of SCR justify its costs. As just one of many sources of haze in the region, it is

questionable whether imposing SCR at NGS would make any appreciable difference in visibility,

especially when considering that NGS has recentty spent $45 million to install Low-NOx

Burners and Separated Overfire Air on each of the NGS units. These improvements alone

reduced NOx emissions by 40%.

.525 West (ill ii Xi • Post Office Box 97 • Sacaton, Arizona 85147• Telephone: (520) 562-9841 • Fax Line. (520) 562-9849

web. wwwgilariver org
The gravest consequence of EPA’s BART determination for the Community would be the closure

of NGS. In order to avoid a substantial risk of closure, EPA should use its flexibility to require

NGS to implement BART only after the NGS owners extend or renew their lease and othercritical NGS agreements (e.g., right-of-way agreements). Because the Bureau of Reclamation is

an NGS owner and NGS is located on tribal lands, the NGS owners can only execute the leaseand other agreements following a review and approval under the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA). Although, we were told that EPA is committed to making sure that NGS does not

close down, the Community is concerned that EPA is not taking the NGS owner’s concerns

regarding timing seriously. In a March 12, 2012 letter, Salt River Project, Arizona Public

Service, Generation NV Energy and Tucson Electric Power identified a number of challenges atNGS that could lead to plant closure if EPA does not allow for BIA to complete the multi-year

NEPA processes before requiring NGS to install BART. Thus, EPA should require NGS to

implement BART within a reasonable time period — such as seven years — following thecompletion of the Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision on the NGS

agreements.

If EPA does sele.ct SCR, it is important that the proposed rule expressly recognizes the economic

impacts that this decision could have on the Community and other Arizona tribes The proposed

rule should acknowledge the unique nature of NGS and the unique non-air quality impacts EPA’s

proposed rule will have on the Community. In addition, the proposed rule should address the

trust responsibility of EPA and the Department of the Interior, and in that capacity, thecommitment to work with the Community to establish a plan or program to mitigate the impactsthat SCR will have on the Community.As demonstrated by commissioning an economic impact study and proposing a mitigation plan

that incorporates a transition toward renewable energy, it is clear that the Community. iscommitted to being part of the solution. Given the challenges at NGS, the Community believesthat EPA must adopt a flexible strategy that does not constrain its options in addressing theimpacts of EPA’s BART decision. While the Community is willing to be flexible during theBART proceedings, it is incumbent upon EPA to provide for a viable timeframe to assure that

NGS can remain open following a decision to impose SCR, recognize and address as part of the

proposed rule the significant impacts that SCR would have on the economy and lifestyle of the

Community, and commit to working with the Department of Interior to establish a means to

mitigate the impacts that EPA’s BART decision will have on the Community.

The Community looks forward to hosting EPA’s consultation with other Arizona tribes on August

27. Should you have any questions please contact Linus Everling, 520-562-9763.
cc: Colleen McKaughan, EPA
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