Navajos to Regulate Power Plants

(Farmington, New Mexico) According to this report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is transferring regulatory authority governing emissions from a coal-fired generating facility, the Four Corners Power Plant, to the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA). A signed agreement specifies that the Navajo Nation will monitor air-quality emissions only and the U.S. government will retain other regulatory authority.

Situated on the Navajo Reservation, the Four Corners Power Plant continuously generates over 2,000 megawatts of electricity by burning 28,000 tons of coal daily. Burning that amount of coal obviously creates a huge amount of effluent smoke and gases which are released to the atmosphere through the smokestacks. According to the agreement with the U.S. EPA, the Navajo Nation will be responsible for monitoring emissions from the facility to assure compliance with federal standards until the Navajo environmental agency establishes its own standards. At that time, the Navajo Nation will be the permit issuing agency for the power plants.

At first glance, this change seems fine except that it places a Native American tribe in an odd political position between the environmental extremists and the large corporations. Typically, Native Americans line up with the environmentalists so it will be a challenge for them to be in the middle. Of course, although it's not often mentioned, Native Americans have historically, traditionally, even spiritually, been pro-smoke. Think about it. The peace pipes, smoke signals, and tribal dances around a smoky bonfire provide a basis that suggests it's a good fit for the Navajo to be in charge of the smoke emissions from the power plants. However, their historical affinity toward smoke may portend less restrictive emissions requirements in the future.

Joking aside, the actual agreement signed by the Navajo leaders specifies that they will administer and enforce applicable provisions of the Clean Air Act and Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Also, the NNEPA operates on grant funds from the federal government so it will function more as a subcontractor than an independent body. All in all, it appears that the whole scheme just removes a chunk of work from the purview of Washington and sends it to a local group, the Navajo Nation.