EPA will revisit New Source Review Rule

EPA says it will reconsider a rule proposed in January 2009 that would regulate new sources of air emissions from existing facilities. The rule, under the New Source Review section of the Clean Air Act, would control how companies combine, or aggregate, multiple physical or operational changes at a plant into a single project for the purpose of obtaining an operating permit from EPA. The reconsideration is in response to a petition filed by the advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council that raised numerous objections to the proposed rule, which was published in the last days of the George W. Bush Administration. On the basis of these objections, EPA says the final rule “may have introduced ambiguities that reduce the effectiveness of our policy on combining emissions from plant modifications.” The result might have allowed facilities to increase emissions adversely impacting air quality without a thorough review. EPA plans to broaden the new source review factors so companies cannot avoid installation of pollution control equipment if air emissions are raised.