EPA to re-evaluate New Source Review equipment replacement rules

WASHINGTON (July 1) -- U.S. environmental officials have agreed to reconsider the equipment replacement provision that the Environmental Protection Agency adopted as part of its New Source Review reforms last year.

The EPA -- citing petitions from environmental and public interest groups as well as several states -- announced June 30 that it would solicit additional public comment on three aspects of the equipment replacement provision. Specifically, the EPA will accept comments on the agency´s basis for determining whether the Clean Air Act allows the revision; the basis for selecting the cost threshold that determines whether a replacement is "routine"; and the procedure under which states comply with the New Source Review changes.

The EPA will accept comments for 60 days after a notice is published in the Federal Register.

The equipment replacement provision is supposed to clarify for coal-burning electric utilities and industrial sources the conditions under which the replacement of equipment at existing facilities triggers the New Source Review provision of the Clean Air Act, which could require a facility to install the most modern air emission reduction equipment. The NSR process and the equipment involved can be expensive.