Inside
What's All The Controversy About?
NSR Reform Rules Spark 140,000 public comments, plus federal lawsuits!
What issue is so controversial after nearly a decade of hearings and public input that 10 northeastern states have sued to stop a new EPA rule published in the Federal Register on December 31, 2002? What issue is so important to some that 8 Midwestern and southeastern states, plus 11 major trade associations, have sued to support the EPA’s rule? Answer: New Source Review (NSR) Reform.
The NSR program requires companies to obtain onerous preconstruction permits and to install stringent air pollution controls in order to construct new facilities. NSR also affects facilities that modify their plants in a manner that increases emissions above certain thresholds.
Industry claims that NSR has evolved in a way that impedes the ability of plants to improve reliability and safety, to enhance operating efficiency, to respond to market demands, to utilize new technology, and to implement pollution prevention projects. Meanwhile, environmental advocacy groups claim that NSR Reforms will increase emissions, jeopardize our health, and harm the environment.
In fact, the December 2002, Final Rule on NSR Reform [Final Rule] will not change any of the existing air quality standards, nor will it change the permitted emissions from any industrial plant. However, the method of accounting for emissions that trigger NSR Review will change under the new final rule.
Currently, EPA takes the position that the determination of whether a modification is "major" must be made by comparing a source's actual emissions to its 2potential to emit" after the change. This is called the "actual-to-potential" test. The Final Rule allows existing sources undertaking a modification to use an "actual-to-projected-actual" test to predict emissions after the change. This new test means that only modifications that will actually increase emissions to the atmosphere will trigger NSR.
Another part of the Final Rule changes how baseline emissions are calculated to determine "actual" emissions. Currently, EPA uses the preceding two-year period for calculating emissions. Under the Final Rule, industry has the flexibility to calculate actual emissions based on any representative 24-month period during the past 10 years.
Other provisions of the Final Rule deal with plantwide applicability limits (PALs), "Clean Unit" exemptions, and pollution control project exclusions. More information on NSR Reform is available at our website: www.environmentalengineers.com
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