1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i EPA Proposes New Permitting Test for Power Plant Modifications September 25, 2018 In August, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule to address
2、 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants, replacing the Obama Administrations Clean Power Plan. (See this companion Sidebar for discussion of the proposed ACE Rule.) As part of the ACE Rule, EPA proposed a new test for determining whether New Source Review (NSR) would ap
3、ply to a modification of an existing power plant. According to EPA, by requiring preconstruction permits for modifications that would increase emissions above a regulatory threshold, NSR helps to assure that new or modified industrial facilities are “as clean as possible” and “advances in pollution
4、control occur concurrently with industrial expansion.” Currently, NSR only applies to modifications that significantly increase annual emissions. Under the proposed ACE Rule, NSR would only apply to power plant modifications that would increase hourly pollutant emissions rates regardless of whether
