New Source Review - 2002 Rule Revisions
On December 31, 2002 a major revision of the NSR rule was promulgated, becoming effective in Minnesota on March 3, 2003. Changes to New Source Review affect about 135 existing Minnesota facilities. The MPCA currently permits more than 2000 facilities.
The changes to NSR do not change state rules for permitting. If your change or modification is subject to NSR, you have to do a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) analysis. In Minnesota you will currently need to perform an air quality analysis and an additional impacts analysis, which includes dispersion modeling.
Reconsideration Changes
On November 7, 2003, EPA issued some minor changes to the December 2002 NSR rules that were effective on January 6, 2004. EPA responded to petitions from certain environmental groups and state and local governments requesting the Agency to reconsider issues related to the December 2002 NSR rule revisions. EPA granted reconsideration and requested comment on six limited issues. In response to the comments, EPA made three changes to the rule:
- added a definition of a "replacement unit,"
- defined existing emissions unit to include replacement emissions units, and
- specified the plantwide applicability limitation (PAL) baseline calculation procedures for newly constructed units do not apply to modified units.
For more information see the EPA's NSR Web site.
Revisions to Federal New Source Review (NSR) Rules
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a direct final rule revising the NSR program. The rule revisions include a number of components that were first proposed by EPA in 1996. As EPA had already received public comment, the “direct final” process was used to promulgate the rule revisions.
The rule implemented the following changes related to New Source Review permitting:
- Plantwide Applicability Limitations (PALs);
- Major NSR Applicability test methodology:
