The agencies announced cooperation helping local stakeholders enhance power and water supplies with sustainable economic development “while minimizing negative impacts on those who obtain significant benefits from NGS—including tribal nations.”
Agency officials expressed further commitment to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s energy options report for NGS, while bolstering short-term clean energy investment goals. NGS is a coal-fired power plant on a Navajo Indian reservation 15 miles from the Grand Canyon part-owned by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation. In addition to Arizona, the facility’s power grid reaches parts of California and Nevada. Reclamation’s share transports water to tribal, agricultural and municipal customers.
The three agencies oversee all federal NGS-related responsibilities. These include tribal trust responsibilities, protection of parks and public health, along with clean energy development. The joint statement is available online at http://epa.gov/air/tribal/pdfs/130103_statement_ngs.pdf.
