The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Grand Canyon Trust have filed an appeal with the Utah Court of Appeals over a state administrative decision that denied both groups' standing in challenging two new coal-fired power plants.

In November, the two groups tried to challenge Utah Air Quality Board decisions that granted air quality permits for the construction of a new addition to the Intermountain Power Project near Delta and for a new 270-megawatt power plant in Sevier County for the Sevier County Power Co.

Tim Wagner, conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club's local chapter, said despite the fact that the chapter has 5,000 members statewide, the air quality board voted to disallow legal standing to both groups, denying them an opportunity to challenge the permits.

Wagner said the Sevier County Citizens for Clean Air and Water, based out of Richfield, filed a similar administrative appeal on the Sevier plant and was granted standing.

"The air quality board used some erroneous logic that we are not local even though we have members in those areas," Wagner said. "This thing is going to emit thousands and thousands of tons of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. IPP is only about 60 miles from Capitol Reef (National Park), which is directly downwind."

Bryce Bird, manager of the air standards branch for the Division of Air Quality, said he was surprised by the board's decision to not grant standing to the Sierra Club.

"It would have allowed them to participate fully in the process as a party in the hearings," Bird said. "They were granted amicus status, so they can file written opinions."

The proposed $1.75 billion coal-fired power unit at IPP in Millard County would create hundreds of new jobs and generate a windfall in local and state tax revenues, according to a 2003 study by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

The addition of a third 950-megawatt unit would be capable of providing enough electricity for roughly 450,000 homes.

Last summer, the city of Los Angeles backed out of investing in the expansion of the plant, favoring instead more expensive renewable energy sources like wind.

Ironically, a third generating unit was originally proposed as a hedge against shocking electricity rate hikes four years ago that crippled California's economy and sent market rates skyrocketing in the West.

Nearly 75 percent of the existing 1,800 megawatts of power generated by IPP already is reserved for California purchasers, including Los Angeles and the cities of Anaheim, Riverside, Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale.

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