The Environmental Protection Agency wants to revise "new source review" requirements to make it easier for refineries and large manufacturers to modify plants without triggering Clean Air Act provisions for pollution control equipment and permits.
EPA's proposal, announced Sept. 8, contains three NSR changes that the agency believes would boost industry investment in energy-efficient and lower-emission technologies. One change would let plant owners or operators modify one part of a plant to increase production in other areas that were not updated. Under this "de-bottlenecking" provision, the unaltered parts of the plant could avoid NSR requirements if its emissions already were covered in an existing permit.