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Energy and permitting policy, read from the public record.

Register entry No. 0020Record of decision91 FR 1814; FR Doc. 2026-00702

OSM approves Navajo Mine No Name coal permit application in combined final EIS and record of decision, 91 FR 56204

The Office of Surface Mining's decision covers 11,526 acres of Navajo Nation coal that would last to 2136 at the low production rate. The only named customer, the Four Corners Power Plant, is assumed in the analysis to stop running in 2041.

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Summary

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has approved Navajo Transitional Energy Company’s application for a Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act permit covering the No Name area of the Navajo Mine in San Juan County, New Mexico [1, 2]. OSM’s acting regional director for Interior Regions 5 and 7-11, Marcelo Calle, signed the record of decision on August 27, 2026 [2]. The agency issued it together with the final environmental impact statement as a single document, “which is effective immediately,” according to its notice of availability published September 1 at 91 FR 56204 [1].

The documents set two dates against each other. The final EIS assumes the Four Corners Power Plant, the mine’s only customer, stops operating when its lease ends in 2041 [3]. The approved mine plan runs to 2136 [1, 2].

What the record shows

The No Name permit area covers 11,526 acres inside NTEC’s existing Navajo Mine Lease 14-20-603-2505, entirely on tribal land, about 22 miles from Farmington [1]. The Navajo Nation owns both the surface and the minerals [1]. The approval allows 9,042 acres of new surface disturbance and recovery of 502,984,700 tons of coal [1, 2].

OSM analyzed two production rates that NTEC submitted with its application [2]:

Scenario Annual rate Last permit term Coal mined
Low demand 5 million tons 2132-2136 502,984,700 tons
High demand 15 million tons mining completed by 2068 502,984,700 tons

The first permit term, 2026-2031, covers 32 acres and 984,700 tons under either scenario [2]. During that term, No Name coal would supplement coal from Area 4 North to deliver 5.8 million tons a year to the Four Corners Power Plant under current contracts [2]. The approval also covers diverting Pinabete Arroyo into No Name Arroyo and moving about seven miles of Burnham Road (BIA 5082) [1, 2].

The record of decision states OSM’s reasons in one sentence: the Proposed Action “is consistent with SMCRA and the implementing regulations, best supports the purpose and need for the proposed action, the goals of the applicant, and national policy to encourage energy production” [2]. OSM finds the choice “most consistent with” Executive Orders 14154, 14156 and 14261 and Secretarial Order 3418 [2]. It also says the No Action alternative “would cause the least impact to the environment” [2].

The impact findings carried into the decision include [2]:

  • possible exceedances of the national air quality standards for PM2.5 and PM10 under both production rates, rated long-term and major;
  • chronic non-cancer health risk thresholds exceeded within 2,300 feet of residences under the high-demand rate;
  • potential permanent effects on 152 historic properties listed in or eligible for the National Register;
  • major visual effects, and major noise effects at occupied dwellings where levels exceed 55 dBA Ldn.

OSM wrote mitigation for paleontology, noise and lighting into the permit [2]. It declined three air-quality measures the EIS recommended: further modeling, 2,300-foot buffers and a 15 mph limit on unpaved roads [2]. The record of decision calls the speed limit “not operationally practical” and sets 45 mph instead, relying on a dust control plan and quarterly particulate monitoring [2].

On greenhouse gases, the final EIS estimates combustion emissions of about 8.5 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent a year at the low rate and about 25.6 million at the high rate, using the Four Corners plant as a surrogate [3]. It says either figure would be below 0.4 percent of 2022 U.S. gross emissions [3].

Where it sits in the process

NTEC filed its permit application package on September 30, 2025, and OSM found it administratively complete on October 28, 2025 [2]. OSM published its notice of intent on January 15, 2026, at 91 FR 1814, with scoping comments due February 4 and one public meeting at the Burnham Chapter House on January 29 [4]. Ninety people attended, and OSM counted 37 comments from 32 commenters: 12 in support and 10 opposed [2]. A separate comment period on the permit application itself was extended twice, to February 28, 2026, at the request of citizens groups [2].

No draft EIS was published for public comment. Appendix E of the final EIS says OSM provided a draft “to cooperating agencies and NTEC for review and comment” under Section 2.1 of Interior’s NEPA handbook, 516 DM 1 [3]. The record of decision notes that Interior finalized its NEPA regulations at 43 CFR part 46 in February 2026 [2]. This site covered the related withdrawal of 18 CEQ guidance documents in July.

Other reviews closed before the decision. The Fish and Wildlife Service concurred on April 28, 2026, that the project “may affect, not likely to adversely affect” the Mesa Verde cactus [2]. The Section 106 programmatic agreement was executed July 8, 2026 [2]. OSM finalized an updated cumulative hydrologic impact assessment on May 28, 2026, and the Army Corps of Engineers found no Section 404 permit is required [2].

What happens before mining starts in the No Name area?

The record of decision lists two steps. OSM will sign its findings and determination for approval, then, in the record’s words, “Upon receipt of the required reclamation bond instrument, the permit will be issued to the applicant” [2]. The initial permit runs five years, renewable for the life of the mine [1].

What the record does not show

  • A buyer after 2041. The final EIS says OSM has no information about “where or to whom” coal above the Four Corners contract amount, or produced after 2041, would be sold [3]. It treats the plant’s continued operation past 2041 as “unknowable and speculative” [2].
  • The plant’s own schedule. The EIS notes reports that the plant may close before 2041 but says no official shutdown plans have been published [3]. KNAU reported the plant “is slated to close by no later than 2038” [5]. NTEC’s FAQ says the plant “will not cease operations until at least 2031” [6].
  • The issued permit and bond. Neither document gives a bond amount or an issuance date [1, 2].
  • A consistent account of the preferred alternative. The notice says OSM “selected the Proposed Action as the preferred alternative” [1]. Responding to EPA in Appendix E, OSM wrote that “this EIS does not specify a preferred alternative” [3].
  • The existing permit number. The January notice identifies the current Navajo Mine permit as NM-0042B; the September notice and the record of decision use NM-0043A [1, 2, 4].

Positions on the record

EPA. As a cooperating agency, EPA reviewer Sarah Samples asked OSM to disclose “the reasonably foreseeable disposition of coal” beyond the Four Corners arrangement and analyze its indirect effects [3]. OSM answered that it lacks authority “over coal sales, transport, or combustion,” citing the Supreme Court’s May 2025 decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County [3]. Samples also asked why a shorter alternative was not preferred, given that it would “substantially reduce the duration and footprint of mining” [3].

OSM on alternatives. Scoping commenters proposed limiting the permit to 2041. OSM rejected that alternative, writing that “SMCRA does not allow OSM to limit mining permits based on the availability of coal customers or contracts” [2].

NTEC. The company’s FAQ says the permit “does not involve a new mine” and calls a 100-year mine life a “theoretical” product of the 5-million-ton planning rate [6]. It reports 83 community presentations and 22 supporting resolutions, including from Burnham Chapter, and says “there are only three potentially affected permittees” [6]. In a statement to KNAU, NTEC said its participation “has been appropriate and transparent at every stage” [5]. The final EIS puts Navajo Mine taxes and royalties at $53.59 million in 2024, about 25 percent of the Navajo Nation General Fund [3].

Burnham residents and DINÉ C.A.R.E. At a July press conference in Window Rock, Burnham resident Dáilan J. Long said, “We are asking for transparency” [5]. Devon Norberto of DINÉ C.A.R.E. told KNAU that residents “weren’t included in the process of environmental review” and that the group hoped tribal delegates would “ask NTEC to pull their permit” [5].

OSM’s record of decision describes the reclamation bond as the step that remains before the permit issues [2]. When OSM receives the bond, and in what amount, is not in the record.

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

Did OSM approve the Navajo Mine No Name permit?
Yes. The record of decision, signed August 27, 2026, approves NTEC's permit application as the Proposed Action [2]. OSM says the permit will be issued after it receives the required reclamation bond [2].
How long could mining last in the No Name area?
At 5 million tons a year, the mine plan runs through 2136; at 15 million tons a year, mining would finish by 2068 [2]. NTEC says the five-year SMCRA permit term, not the life-of-mine plan, is what authorizes mining on the ground [6].
Who buys the coal from the Navajo Mine?
The Four Corners Power Plant is the only current customer, and the EIS assumes it runs through its lease end in 2041 [3]. OSM says it does not know who would buy coal produced above the plant's 5.8 million-ton contract amount or after 2041 [3].
Was there a public comment period on the draft EIS for the No Name permit?
No public draft was issued. OSM gave the draft to cooperating agencies and NTEC for comment under Interior's NEPA handbook, Public comment was taken during the 20-day scoping period that closed February 4, 2026, and in a separate comment period on the permit application that ran to February 28 [2, 3, 4].
How many families live in the No Name permit area?
NTEC says there are three potentially affected grazing permittees [6]. The record of decision says occupied dwellings inside the permit area will be relocated before mining reaches them [2].

Note on sourcing

This report draws on the record of decision in full and on the final EIS's executive summary, its project background, air quality and socioeconomic sections, and Appendices D and E; it does not draw on the remaining appendices or on the permit application package. The record of decision says the permit itself will be issued once OSM receives NTEC's reclamation bond; no issued permit or bond amount is in the documents cited here. EPA's own notice of availability for the final EIS had not been published as of this report. The Four Corners Power Plant closure date of 'no later than 2038' is as KNAU reported it; the final EIS assumes operation through 2041 based on the plant's lease, and Arizona Public Service is not quoted in the record cited here. NTEC's FAQ is undated in its text and is dated here by its posting in August 2026. Statements attributed to DINÉ C.A.R.E. and Burnham Chapter residents are as KNAU reported them in July.

Sources

  1. Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision for Navajo Transitional Energy Company's Navajo Mine No Name SMCRA Permit, 91 FR 56204 (FR Doc. 2026-17785)Federal Register (OSMRE), September 1, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. Navajo Transitional Energy Company's Navajo Mine No Name Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Permit Application, Record of DecisionOffice of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, August 27, 2026 · osmre.gov
  3. Navajo Transitional Energy Company's Navajo Mine No Name Permit Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Application, Environmental Impact Statement (EISX-010-08-000-1765812420)Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, August 2026 · osmre.gov
  4. Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Navajo Transitional Energy Company's No Name Permit Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act Permit Application, 91 FR 1814 (FR Doc. 2026-00702)Federal Register (OSMRE), January 15, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  5. A Navajo Nation energy company wants to expand a coal mine. Some tribal members cry foulKNAU Arizona Public Radio, July 21, 2026 · knau.org
  6. No Name Permit FAQsNavajo Transitional Energy Company, August 2026 · navenergy.com

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0022 · Report · 2 shared headingsBLM proposes 60-day permitting track for NPR-A oil production sites, RIN 1004-AF57, 91 FR 57091
  2. No. 0002 · Report · 2 shared headingsONRR proposes oil, gas and coal valuation amendments, RIN 1012-AA39, with $331 million a year less in royalties
  3. No. 0031 · Floor order · 1 shared headingSenate order sets Nov. 9 cloture vote on motion to proceed to H.R. 2347, the vehicle for a permitting package