News Release Archive

Comment Period Extended for Navajo Generating Station — Kayenta Mine Complex Draft Environmental Impact

Media Contact: Sandra Eto, 623-773-6254, seto@usbr.gov

For Release: November 28, 2016

Phoenix, Ariz. — The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is extending the public comment period for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Navajo Generating Station - Kayenta Mine Complex. The new deadline for interested groups and individuals to provide comments is Thursday, December 29, 2016. The original open public comment period was scheduled to close November 29. 2016.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, Reclamation released the draft EIS for the Navajo Generating Station – Kayenta Mine Complex Project on September 30, 2016. The draft EIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts of extending the operation and maintenance of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) and associated facilities, and the continued production of coal from the Kayenta Mine, from 2020 through 2044. The current plant-site lease for the NGS expires Dec. 22, 2019.

The NGS, located on tribal trust land leased from the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona, provides power to over one million customers in the southwestern United States and is the primary source of electricity for operation of the Central Arizona Project (CAP). The CAP, a Federal water supply project constructed by Reclamation, delivers over 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually to tribal, agricultural, municipal, and industrial water users in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties, Arizona. Although not an owner of the NGS, Reclamation is authorized by statute to participate in the NGS and use its share of NGS power to operate the pumps that deliver CAP water. Coal used by the NGS to generate this power is exclusively provided by the Kayenta Mine, located about 80 miles southeast of the NGS on tribal trust lands leased from both the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe.

To learn more about the project and review the draft EIS please visit http://www.ngskmc-eis.net. Interested parties may also call Project Manager Sandra Eto at 623-773-6254.

All written comments must be postmarked by the end of the extended comment period on December 29, 2016 for consideration in the final EIS. Please mail, hand deliver or courier written comments to: NGS-KMC Project Manager, PXAO-1500; Bureau of Reclamation - Phoenix Area Office; 6150 W. Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ 85306-4001. Comments may be faxed to 623-773-6483 or emailed to NGSKMC-eis@usbr.gov and the sources of those comments will be made available to the public.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.