After approving a permit for a controversial power plant on the Navajo Nation, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to review the tribe's project again.

The Bush administration approved the air permit for the $3 billion Desert Rock Energy Project last August. But in response to a challenge from environmental groups and the state of New Mexico, the Obama administration wants to reconsider certain aspects of the proposal.

Opponents hailed the EPA's move but the tribe said it should have been consulted. "This is about sovereignty. This is about saving self. This is about the Navajo Nation regaining its independence by developing the financial wherewithal to take care of its own problems," President Joe Shirley Jr. told the Associated Press.

The permit is currently before the Environmental Appeals Board in Washington, D.C. The EPA filed a motion for remand.

Get the Story:
EPA seeks remand of Navajo power plant permit (AP 4/28)

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