By Kurt Gilliam
On October 22, 2020, the U.S. EPA finalized a rule change intended to accelerate the process for evaluating New Source Review (NSR) permits. The update concerns proposed modification of a major stationary source of air emissions, such as a large factory adding another assembly line or a power plant installing a new piece of equipment. With this change, EPA will consider both emissions increases
and decreases from the planned change during step one of its two-step evaluation. This is commonly known as project “emissions accounting”.
What is NSR?
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 established NSR as a preconstruction permitting program for major stationary sources, meaning that any new factories, industrial boilers, or power plants are required to obtain approval from EPA before construction starts. The NSR regulations also instruct existing plants proposing modifications to their facility to go through a two-step process to determine if the conversion is subject to the regulation.
The original EPA process included:
- Step 1 required a determination of whether the proposed project, by itself, is predicted to result in a significant emissions increase. For example, if a Pittsburgh Power Plant wants to install a new boiler the project manager would submit the paperwork with the boiler only to EPA. If the agency found the increase in emissions caused the plant to emit more air pollution than the permit threshold, then EPA required the requestor to complete the next step.
- Step 2 required an evaluation of whether the project will result in a significant net emissions increase, considering any other increases and decreases in actual emissions at the source that are contemporaneous with the proposed project. So, in our Pittsburgh Power Plant example, if the plant’s new boiler project also included upgrading all emissions control equipment throughout the plant, the net result could be a decrease in air releases.
The New Process
With the 2020 rule, EPA allows existing facilities requesting modifications to conduct emissions accounting in step one, tallying changes that both increase and decrease releases. The result may demonstrate that a proposed modification does not exceed NSR’s major source thresholds, thus eliminating the need to perform step two of the evaluation. According to EPA, they intend the change to speed up the NSR permitting process, reducing the burden and cost of some NSR major sources.
Completely new construction projects continue to require two steps.
How Can Cornerstone Help?
Our Air Permitting Experts can assist facilities with determining if any modification they are considering will have applicability to the NSR regulations. We also can assist with preparing and submitting NSR permits application and any needed follow-up during EPA’s review.
Additional Information
EPA Fact Sheet on this rule – click here
To read the full final rule – click here