Where is the line between routine maintenance and a modification that requires a permit? Whatare the criteria for determining routine? Since the EPA has made non-compliance of NewSource Review (NSR) requirements an enforcement priority, the narrowing of the routinemaintenance exemption is critical to NSR compliance. As such, EPA has closely examined theutility industry, especially coal fired boilers, to determine if some repairs of these units wouldnot be considered routine and should theoretically trigger Prevention of Significant Deterioration(PSD) or New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) requirements.Several court cases and EPA guidance memos over the last fifteen years have attempted toclarify the NSR/NSPS exemption for "routine maintenance, repair, and replacement". From theWEPCO decision in 1989 to the Tennessee Valley Authority decision in September 2000, muchhas happened to cloud the use of the routine maintenance, repair and replacement definition.This paper will review these and other decisions and guidance memos and attempt to shed somelight on the evolving definition of "routine".
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