New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act

This bill changes how the Clean Air Act decides when a change at a factory, power plant, or other stationary source counts as a "modification" that triggers federal permitting and emission standards. A change would count as increasing pollution only if the source's maximum achievable hourly emission rate after the change is higher than its highest achievable hourly rate in the previous 10 years. Changes designed to cut pollution per unit of production, or to improve reliability or safety, would not count as modifications unless the EPA Administrator finds the increase would harm health or the environment. Preconstruction permits in clean-air and nonattainment areas would apply only to physical construction of the parts of an emissions unit, not other on-site work, and only to changes that cause a significant increase in annual actual emissions. The bill states it does not make any change a modification that was not treated as one before it became law.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Jon Husted Republican sponsor
• 1 cosponsors