The spokesman for the company working with a Navajo utility authority on a proposed coal-fired power plant near Farmington said Wednesday that an air permit for the plant is three years overdue.

Sithe Global Power spokesman Frank Maisano also said the Desert Rock plant will be the cleanest coal plant in the United States.

Gov. Bill Richardson on Tuesday complained that a consent decree to make a decision on the permit by the end of July is tying federal regulators' hands.

The governor wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to delay issuing an air permit until New Mexico can be consulted about the plant's impact.

Maisano said, however, that Desert Rock ``will be the cleanest coal plant in the United States with the most strict air permit ever.''

The EPA filed the consent decree last week in U.S. District Court in Houston, agreeing to act on the permit for the plant by July 31.

The Navajos' Dine Power Authority and Sithe applied for the air permit in early 2004. Under federal law, the EPA has a year to make a determination and issue a decision. The developers sued the EPA in March, accusing the federal agency of dragging its feet on the permit.

``It is hard to imagine that Governor Richardson could ask for more delays,'' Maisano said.

The Dine Power Authority is in partnership with Houston-based Sithe for the planned $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt Desert Rock project.