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OAR Box 1781 

Prepped by Ollie Stewart 

Document Number: 

139) IV-C-53 

Docket Number: 

A-90-37 

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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCX 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

'APR 2 2 2002 

A-90-37 

IV-C-53 

OFFICE OF 

AIR AND RADIATION 

IOCT I 6 2002 

EPA/.l-TT'CKET 

Mr. Arthur J. Rocque, Jr. 

Commissioner 

Connecticut Department of 

Environmental Protection 

79 Elm Street 

Hartford, CT 06106 

Dear Mr. Rocque: 

Thank you for your letter of March 12, 2002, to Administrator Whitman in which you and 

five other Commissioners from the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management 

express concern over reports about the Administration's plans to change the Clean Air Act's 

New Source Review (NSR) program without concurrence of State programs. Your letter was 

forwarded to me for a reply. I want to assure you that I am committed to the air quality benefits 

provided by the NSR program. I agree that the program can and should be improved. Many of 

our stakeholders share this view including Governors and State Environmental Commissioners 

from both major parties in many parts of the country. We are currently evaluating several 

possible ways to make the program better including a number of ideas that were developed and 

proposed by prior administrations. 

I agree with your point that the NSR program has helped to achieve significant air quality 

improvements and public health gains. With that as a preface, the regulatory improvements that 

we are currently considering are intended to address widespread concems about the effectiveness 

of the NSR program. The improvements are aimed at creating incentives for companies to 

reduce emissions and at removing barriers to environmentally beneficial projects. They are also 

intended to promote greater certainty for regulated sources, thus improving overall environmental 

compliance. I appreciate your support of concepts such as plant wide applicability limits and the 

clean unit test which we are carefully examining. We have not finalized our work, and we will 

place your letter in the rulemaking docket as we consider your views and the views of others as 

to how we should move forward. 

I also want to assure you that our efforts to improve the NSR regulations have involved 

an extraordinary level of public participation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has 

been coordinating a stakeholder-based effort to improve the NSR program since 1992. The effort 

has included the formation ofa Federal advisory committee; the publication of a proposal and a 

Internet Address (URL) • http://www.epa.gov 

Recycled/Recyclable • Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 25% Postconsumer) 
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notice of availability in the Federal Register, each followed by a public comment period; several 

public hearings; and dozens of stakeholder meetings. Hundreds of people from environmental 

groups, industry, and State, local, and Federal agencies participated in these many discussions 

and submitted comments in writing. Any regulatory changes we make will only be made after 

fully considering comments from the public. Indeed, I believe these and other steps assure a full, 

fair, and open process, and we will continue to maintain such a process as we move forward. 

Again, thank you for your letter. I appreciate the opportunity to be of service and trust the 

information provided is helpful. 

Sincerely, 

^Jeffrey R. Hblmstead 

Assistant Administrator 
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[3:32 FAX 2024019505 OAR IMM OFF -» SHERRY RUSSELL i<aoo4 

ESCAUM 

Northeast States for 

Coordinated Air Use 

Management 

RECEIVED 

m i fi»« 

EXEC. SECRETARIAT 

March 12,2002 

Connectkut Bureau of tt Management, Cjrmlnc DiBattbto 

Maine Bureau of Air Quality Control. Jama Brookx 

Kassachusem Dh-isiwi of Ait duality Control. Nancy Se.dn.an 

New Hampshire Air Resources DMsion. Kenneth Co&urn 

Nov. Jersey Office of Air Qualify Management, John Oslon 

New York Division of Mr Resources. Robert Wartand 

Rhode Island Office of Air Resources. Stephen H*ukut 

Vermont Air Pollution Control Division, Richard Valefltlneni 

The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Ariel Rios Building, 101A 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20460 

Dear Administrator Whitman: 

We are writing to express our deep concern regarding changes under consideration by the 

Administration to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) Program. NSR has been and 

continues to be a cornerstone of the Oean .Air Act. We in the Northeast strongly believe that the 

historical implementation of the NSR penuitting program across the country over the last three 

decades by state and local permitting agencies, in partnership with the federal Environmental 

Protection Agency, has achieved significant air quality improvements and public health gains. 

It is our understanding thai EPA is considering changes that would fundamentally change the 

NSR program without concurrence of state programs. Since it is the states, not EPA, which 

implement the NSR program, EPA has a responsibility to carefully review each anticipated 

change with the states prior to proposal and prior to adoption. It is also our understanding that 

the current drafts of NSR revisions would weaken the program such that many large industries 

will only rarely have to meet current environmental standards. 

We must not lose sight of the fact that the real-world implementation of the NSR, though not 

without problems and challenges, has met and continues to meet successfully a number of 

significant policy goals including: 

• improving air quality in non-attainment areas 

• maintaining healthful air in attainment areas 

• promoting development of innovative technologies and strategies to control air pollution 

For example, the evidence is quite clear that for new sources, state agencies have worked 

effectively with applicants to assure that permits are issued expeditiously. This is underscored 

by the fact that Northeastern States have permitted over 13,000 megawatts of new electrical 

generation capacity since 1996. NSR reform should therefore focus on streamlining the process 

for existiDg-source modifications in ways thai result in more air quality improvement and better 

protection of public health than the existing program. 

The NESCAUM states support many of the concepts proposed for NSR reform, however, we 

have serious concems about the specific implementation of these concepts. For instance, the 

NESCAUM states support the actual emissions-based Plantwide Applicability Limit (PAL) 

Jason S. Grumet, Executive Oiicctor 

129 Portland Street 

Boston, Massachusetts 0711.4 

Phone (617) 367-8W0 

Fax (617) 742-9162 

www.nescdum.org A