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8 September 2006 -- The Bush Administration is proposing modifying three specific areas of its New Source Review (NSR) permitting program. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says these modifications will simplify the process facility owners and operators must follow in determining whether plans to modify their facility would trigger NSR requirements.
EPA said in a press release that the Bush Administration's NSR improvements would accelerate investments in cleaner energy-saving technologies. Existing permit limits on emissions would not be affected, and the proposed changes would encourage investments in refining capacity, improve industries' efficiency and reduce demand for natural gas. EPA also said the improvements would also lower energy costs to households and consumers.
Today's proposal includes the final set of proposals from EPA's 2002 recommendations to the president on how to clarify the NSR program to improve investment in utility and refinery capacity. The proposal addresses the following three components: - Debottlenecking: EPA is proposing to change how NSR applies when an owner or operator modifies one portion of a facility in such a manner that production or throughput in other unchanged portions of the facility increases, thereby increasing overall efficiency of the facility. This type of modification is known as a "debottlenecking" project. Under the proposal, unchanged portions of the facility would not be subject to NSR if emissions from those portions have already been taken into account in a prior permit or regulatory action.
- Aggregation: EPA is proposing to clarify how NSR applies when multiple projects are implemented at a facility. EPA is proposing that projects that are related should be treated as a single project (e.g. aggregated) if one of them is dependent on another. The rule provides additional information about how EPA makes this determination.
- Project Netting: EPA is proposing to simplify the step in the calculation used to determine whether NSR applies when emissions increases and decreases are added together (called "netting").
Both aggregation and debottlenecking have been implemented through EPA guidance on a case by case basis in the past. EPA said the proposal would provide certainty to both the regulated community and the permitting authorities.
More information about the proposed improvements to the NSR program is available at http://epa.gov/nsr/.
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