Navajo Nation takes significant action to cut methane, assert tribal sovereignty

Window Rock, AZ - By a vote of 4-0, the Navajo Nation Council Resource Development Committee today voted in favor of Legislation Number 0202-04 “Approving the Navajo Nation Clean Air Act Minor Source Program Regulations.”

Over the last five years, Diné C.A.R.E., Naeva, Western Leaders Network, and Environmental Defense Fund worked with Navajo Nation Council Delegates, Chapter House officials, regulators, and impacted communities to reduce oil and gas waste and pollution. Coalition members released the following joint statement following the Navajo Nation Council Resource Development Committee’s unanimous approval of Navajo Nation EPA’s proposed Minor Source Program Regulations:

“In a victory for tribal sovereignty, our climate, and the health of our communities, the Navajo Nation Council today took significant action to cut methane waste and pollution from oil and gas operations on its lands. And by putting oil and gas operations on tribal lands under the Navajo Nation’s jurisdiction, the Navajo Nation EPA can take action to protect the health of Navajo communities and from methane and air pollution. The unanimous approval of Navajo EPA’s proposed Minor Source Program Regulations is a critical step forward and positions the Navajo Nation as a leader among oil and gas producing tribes with direct oversight over emissions from tribally-owned oil and gas resources.” 

Background

Methane emissions are a growing problem on the Navajo Nation, requiring both federal and tribal government action to protect communities, public health, and the climate. A 2021 analysis found that oil and gas companies emit 22,000 tons of methane per year on Navajo Nation lands, wasting the equivalent of 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas depriving the Nation and allottees of millions in royalties while polluting the air and threatening the health of Navajo communities. In fact, the proportion of natural gas lost from production on Navajo lands is twice the national average, highlighting problems of inequity and injustice as compared to oil and gas production on neighboring lands.

Methane and its co-pollutants are dangerous to human health. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other toxic substances are released during oil and gas exploration and production. 

Given the complexity of land ownership in Navajo Nation, action at all government levels is needed to address the impacts of methane emissions and climate change. Federal and state agencies must work in tandem with NNEPA to ensure that all oil and gas emissions are addressed. Air emissions from oil and gas operations on Navajo lands are currently overseen by the U.S. EPA Region 9, nearly 1,000 miles away from the Navajo Nation in San Francisco, California.

Approval of the Minor Source Program is just the first step. Now comes the hard work of obtaining full oversight over emissions from tribally-owned oil and gas resources.

First, Navajo Nation EPA can seek “Treatment as a State” authority over minor source oil and gas operations and then delegate authority to administer permits under the federal Clean Air Act. Federal permits can transfer to Navajo permits once Navajo Nation EPA adopts protections "at least as stringent" as federal rules.

This past June, the Southern Ute became the first tribe in the U.S. to secure delegated authority. The Navajo Nation can become the second, and today the Council took a major step toward ensuring the economic and environmental health of its people.

Navajo Nation EPA will need to secure funding to administer the program. This includes support from the Navajo Nation Council as well as U.S. EPA grant funding to administer federal programs and U.S. EPA-U.S. Department of Energy funding under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program. 

Robyn Jackson

Executive Director

Diné C.A.R.E.

Ahtza Chavez,

Executive Director

Naeva

Gwen Lachelt

Executive Director

Western Leaders Network 

Matthew Garrington

Interim Senior Director, Regulatory 
and Legislative Affairs

Environmental Defense Fund