The battle over the Clean Air Acts New Source Review requirements has shifted back to the regulatory front. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new test to determine when powerplant emissions levels would trigger NSR mandates, such as installing advanced pollution-control systems. Industry welcomed EPAs action but environmental groups criticized it. If the plan becomes final, some states will try to block it in court, says Peter H. Lehner, environmental protection bureau chief in the New York Attorney Generals office.
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson says the NSR proposal, announced Oct. 13, will provide facilities clearer and simpler rules for operating safely, efficiently and affordably. The rule would apply to existing units, not new ones. EPA is offering three options for figuring emissions after a generating unit is modified (table). One option is the test now in use for the new source performance standards program, under a different Clean Air Act section from NSR. That option and one other would use an hourly rate as the yardstick, instead of the test now used in most states, which is based on annual emissions.