FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The developers of a proposed coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation are seeking the Tribal Council's approval of right-of-way easements, another step in what has been a long process to move the project forward.

Four council committees already have signed off on the measure. It goes before the full council during the lawmakers' weeklong winter session that begins Monday in Window Rock.

The Tribal Council approved a lease for the Desert Rock Energy Facility in 2006 and developers were hopeful that construction would start the following year, but critics have fiercely fought the project and forced delays.

The power plant is expected to generate $52 million a year in revenues for the tribe, about one-third of its annual budget, and create up to 400 jobs on the reservation, where half of the work force is unemployed. The Diné Power Authority is partnering with Houston-based Sithe Global LLC. to build the 1,500-megawatt plant south of Farmington.

The right-of-way measure is just one of a handful of things the tribe has to sign off on before construction can begin. The lease, tax agreements and water rights already have been approved.

"With the rights-of-way approval, we should have all four components for the project to move forward," said Steve Begay, general manager of the Diné Power Authority.

On the federal side, the Desert Rock project is pending approval of a massive environmental impact statement. Developers received an air permit last year from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but it is under appeal.

The rights-of-way measure is an all-encompassing agreement that includes transmission, data, electrical and waterlines, water wells, road access and staging areas for construction materials, Begay said.

Under the measure, the tribe will receive $3.5 million a year in fees and agrees to waive $7.5 million in annual fees, citing the economic benefits to the Navajo people. That provision drew criticism from opponents of the project and the chairman of the Tribal Council's Budget and Finance Committee.

LoRenzo Bates said the tribe has already put up its land, water and provided tax breaks for the project. He said he would like to see a comparison between what the tribe and what the developers are gaining from the project.

"I would venture to say they're going to make a whole lot more than the (Navajo) Nation is going to make," he said.

If lawmakers approve the measure, they would also be waiving the tribe's sovereign immunity, which means any disputes that arise from the agreement would not be handled in tribal court.

Because the easements would cross customary use areas, Begay said developers are required to compensate those land users. Of the 41 land users identified, Begay said 34 have consented, four have repeatedly refused and three permits are in probate.

Dooda Desert Rock, a group that has been fighting the plant, is planning a demonstration against the right-of-way measure Monday outside the council chambers. Opponents of the plant worry about its effects on the environment and the Navajo culture.

"We're just trying to do the right thing for us as humans, as people who want to be healthy and live a little longer and also to take care of Mother Earth," said group president Elouise Brown.

Before tribal lawmakers consider any legislation, they first will vote on who will preside over the council meetings for the next two years. Speaker Lawrence Morgan, who represents the Navajo communities of Pinedale and Iyanbito in New Mexico, is seeking re-election.

Morgan is being challenged by Leonard Tsosie, a first-term delegate who resigned as a New Mexico state senator to be seated on the Tribal Council. Fort Defiance Delegate Harold Wauneka also is seeking the post.

Once the speaker is sworn in, delegates will consider more than $17 million in spending bills, a measure to provide unlimited terms for the tribal president and vice president, the appointment of a chief legislative counsel and approval of a law that would require booster seats for children aged 5-12 who haven't reached a height of 4 feet 9 inches.

Bates offered a word of caution to his colleagues regarding the spending measures.

"I'm hoping that they be very cognizant of the fact that the (Navajo) Nation's no different than any other government that's facing a shortfall," he said.




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