ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed emissions standards this week for four power plants on Native American reservations as part of the Obama administration’s plans to cut down on the gases blamed for global warming.
The agency unveiled its plan for states last summer, saying it wants to see fossil-fuel-fired power plants reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
EPA officials said they waited until now to include Indian Country because the agency wanted more time to consult with tribes that would be affected by the proposal. Those include tribes in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
The EPA also released more data about emissions rates for 2010 and 2011 to help states, tribes and others formulate ideas and comments on how to better address greenhouse gas emissions before the agency finalizes its plan.
Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said the agency already has received hundreds of thousands of comments and more are expected as the comment period gets closer to wrapping up Dec. 1. The public has until Dec. 19 to comment on the proposal regarding the power plants on tribal land.
McCabe said a transparent and public process is “so critical to this program.”
Under the proposal unveiled Tuesday, the Navajo Nation would have to reduce its emissions rate by at least 6 percent.
Two of the power plants on the Navajo Nation – the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, and the Four Corners Power Plant near Farmington – are among the country’s top emitters of carbon dioxide, releasing 17.8 million short tons and 12.9 million short tons in 2013, respectively. Both have plans to shutter some of the generating units, which will cut down on carbon emissions.
Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, said the tribe’s air quality experts are reviewing the federal government’s proposal, but he believes the changes already in the works for the two power plants will put the tribe in a good position to meet EPA’s goals.
The EPA is calling for about a 7 percent reduction in the emissions rate at the Bonanza plant on Ute lands in northeastern Utah, while only a slight reduction is proposed for at a gas-fired plant on Fort Mojave land in Arizona.
