Four Environmental Protection Agency notices published in the Federal Register on September 9 give the public formal notice of air permitting actions on tribal lands in Arizona and New Mexico. Some of the decisions being noticed were made more than a decade ago.

The newest item is a Costco Wholesale warehouse store and fuel station to be located on the lands of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Scottsdale, Arizona. EPA posted the company's notification of coverage on July 10, 2026. The other three notices publish 14 approvals for concrete batch plants, hot mix asphalt plants and stone quarrying, crushing, and screening operations that EPA granted between November 2015 and November 2025.

For households near any of these sites, the practical question is not whether a rule was broken. Nothing in the notices alleges wrongdoing by any company. The question is when residents learn about these decisions and what recourse the notices actually leave open.

On Many Tribal Lands, EPA Issues Air Permits Directly

Most Americans who look up a nearby industrial permit turn to a state environmental agency. On many tribal lands, EPA itself is the permitting authority. The notices were issued under Clean Air Act sections 110(a) and 301(d) and the Tribal Minor New Source Review program, set out at 40 CFR 49.151 through 49.165. EPA finalized that program in 2011 to regulate construction of smaller pollution sources in Indian country. It covers sources whose emissions fall below major-source thresholds, generally 100 or 250 tons per year, but at or above minor-source thresholds.

Two streamlined tools do most of the work. A general permit sets standard conditions for an entire category of small sources; an operator submits a request for coverage, and EPA approves it after determining that the facility qualifies. A permit by rule works differently. The operator submits a notification of coverage, and EPA's posting of that notification is treated as final agency action on whether the rule applies to the facility.

That streamlining is intentional, and it is also why these decisions are easy for neighbors to miss.

Dust, Exhaust and Fuel Vapor Are the Emissions at Issue

The four notices cover four source categories with different emissions profiles.

Concrete batch plants and stone quarrying, crushing and screening operations are chiefly sources of particulate matter, the dust generated as cement and aggregate are handled, crushed, conveyed and stockpiled, along with exhaust from diesel equipment. Hot mix asphalt plants add combustion emissions from heating and drying, plus volatile organic compounds from hot asphalt.

Gasoline dispensing facilities are a different case. The main pollutant of concern is gasoline vapor, a volatile organic compound released when storage tanks are filled and vehicles are fueled.

EPA's notice on the Costco fuel facility states that posting the notification is final agency action "with respect to applicability of the GDF-PBR to the Source." That wording is deliberately narrow. The decision being noticed is whether the gasoline dispensing permit by rule applies to the facility, not a broader judgment about its emissions. Before submitting its notification on July 8, 2026, the facility completed screening for threatened and endangered species and historic properties, which EPA confirmed on April 2, 2026.

Two of the Named Sources Had Shut Down Before the Notice Ran

The retroactive nature of these filings is clearest in the stone quarrying, crushing and screening approvals. They cover Grey Mesa Gravel Pit in San Juan County, New Mexico, approved November 5, 2015; Ehrenberg Quarry in La Paz County, Arizona, approved February 27, 2025; and the San Juan Lateral Water Treatment Plant Rock Crusher in San Juan County, New Mexico, approved May 21, 2025.

Footnotes to the same notice record that EPA terminated Ehrenberg Quarry's coverage on September 29, 2025, and the San Juan Lateral rock crusher's coverage on December 17, 2025, in both cases after the permittee filed a notification of closure. Two of the three sources noticed to the public in September 2026 had already ended their coverage.

The concrete batch plant notice covers seven approvals issued between April 2018 and November 2025. They include the CEMEX Higley Plant in Mesa, the Core Ready Mix Higley Plant near Mesa, a portable Oscar Renda Contracting plant near Newcomb, a Navajo Nation crushing and screening operation in McKinley and San Juan Counties, New Mexico, and three approvals for temporary concrete plants supporting modifications at Window Rock Airport in Arizona. One of the Window Rock approvals was a re-approval issued in 2022 after an earlier approval expired because construction had not begun within 18 months.

The hot mix asphalt plant notice covers four approvals issued between May 2018 and April 2022, at Camp Verde, Tsaile and Kayenta and in Apache County, all in Arizona.

The timing carries one concrete consequence. The three approval notices say judicial review, to the extent it is available, may be sought through a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit no later than November 9, 2026, and the Costco notice ties its review window to the same date. For the 2015 gravel pit approval, that window is running more than a decade after EPA granted coverage.

How Residents Can Look Up Permits Near an Address

Each action carries a docket number, and supporting material is public on Regulations.gov. Depending on the docket, residents can find the request for coverage, technical support documents with emissions calculations, approval letters, and species and historic property screening records.

The Costco action, for example, sits under docket EPA-R09-OAR-2026-6370, and its public docket on Regulations.gov includes the notification of coverage, the screening documents and a public notification section.

The notices list Catherine Valladolid in EPA Region 9 as the contact for questions. Residents who want earlier notice can set up free Federal Register email subscriptions for EPA notices and can ask the relevant tribal environmental office about permitting activity on its lands.

The Comment Windows Here Have Closed

These notices are not proposals, and they are not open for comment. The Federal Register listing for each states that comments are no longer being accepted. The remaining formal avenue is judicial review, limited to whether each source qualified for coverage or whether the permit by rule applies.

The Costco notification covers construction and operation of the fuel facility under the permit by rule. Once the facility is running, nearby residents can check EPA's public compliance and enforcement records for it.

Nature World News will watch for further Region 9 notices of this kind and for any tribal or public response to the timing. The near-term takeaway is modest but useful: for people living near tribal land, the Federal Register can lag well behind the permitting decisions it reports.

What Readers Want to Know

What did EPA actually publish? Four notices of final action in the Federal Register on September 9, 2026. One publishes Costco's notification of coverage under the gasoline dispensing permit by rule. The other three publish 14 approvals under general permits: seven for concrete batch plants, four for hot mix asphalt plants, and three for stone quarrying, crushing and screening facilities, all on tribal lands in Arizona and New Mexico.

Which locations are involved? Sites include the Salt River Reservation in Scottsdale, Mesa, and near Mesa; Window Rock; Camp Verde, Tsaile, Kayenta, Apache County and La Paz County in Arizona; San Juan and McKinley Counties in New Mexico; and a portable plant near Newcomb.

Does this mean a company did something wrong? No. The notices record approvals and coverage determinations. Nothing in them alleges any violation by any named company.

Why is EPA rather than the state handling these permits? On many tribal lands, EPA administers the Clean Air Act's Tribal Minor New Source Review program directly, so state environmental agencies are not the permitting authority there.

What pollutants are involved? Mainly particulate dust and diesel exhaust from concrete, quarrying, and crushing operations; combustion emissions and volatile organic compounds from hot mix asphalt plants; and gasoline vapor from fuel dispensing.

Can the public still comment? No. The Federal Register entries state that comments are no longer being accepted. The remaining formal step is a petition for review in the Ninth Circuit, with the notices pointing to November 9, 2026.

How can residents find permits near them? Search the docket numbers listed in each notice at Regulations.gov for applications, emissions calculations, and approval letters; contact EPA Region 9, and ask the relevant tribal environmental office about activity on its lands.