NSR Reform Revisited: Pollution Control Projects Following the DC Circuit Court's Decision and NSR Reform Rule Netting

摘要

The June 24, 2005 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit Court) upheld the majority of the EPA new source review (NSR) rule revisions that had been promulgated December 31, 2002. However, two of the provisions were vacated by the court: the clean unit provisions and the exclusion for pollution control projects (PCPs). The PCP exclusion was vacated from both the 2002 reform rule-making and the July 21, 1992 "WEPCO" rule, primarily due to concern about collateral emissions (e.g., an increase in sulfur dioxide [SO_2] from incineration of sulfides, or an increase in nitrogen oxides [NO_x] due to incineration of volatile organic compounds [VOCs]). The court's decision also, presumably, struck down EPA's July 1, 1994 policy memorandum that allowed the PCP exemption to be granted to any source meeting specified criteria (as detailed in the memorandum).