p.1 

OAR Box 1787 

Prepped by Ollie Stewart 

Document Number: 

60) ll-C-18 

Docket Number: 

A-90-37 

Printed 11/4/200810:22:19 AM Sheet 60 of 147 
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l 2 mM \ UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY A " ^" 3 / 

I ^MK-7 2 Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards tL'"C " Ic^ 

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 Research Triangle Park. North Carolina 27711 

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SEP 2 I 1993 

v I*.', M . t 

I 

, • • M , 

Honorable Charles E. Grassley : ul -

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Senator Grassley: > 

This is in response to your August 16, 1993 letter to 

Carol M. Browner, Administrator, regarding the Clean Air 

Act's (Act's) air permitting process for plant expansions, 

modifications, and new construction. The requirements for 

preconstruction review of major sources of air pollution under 

the Act, including plant modifications, are set forth under the 

new source review (NSR) rules overseen by the Office of Air 

Quality Planning and Standards. 

The concerns you note regarding the possible inequities of 

NSR permitting requirements have previously been raised tov the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by others. In response, a 

year ago EPA initiated an effort to address these specific 

concerns by holding a series of public workshops to gather ideas 

for streamlining and simplifying the NSR permitting process. A 

number of ideas raised at these workshops are now under 

consideration by the NSR Reform Subcommittee (Subcommittee) to 

the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (Committee). The Committee 

was established by EPA to provide independent advice and counsel 

to EPA on implementing' the 1990 Amendments of the Act. The 

specific goal of the Subcommittee is to generate proposed 

recommendations (to be forwarded to EPA through the full 

Committee) on how to improve the NSR permitting process. Both 

the workshops and the Subcommittee involve participation by 

industry, State and local air pollution control agencies, 

environmental groups> and Federal agencies such as the National 

Park Service. To date, EPA's efforts to involve various diverse 

groups in identifying NSR issues and suggesting ways to simplify 

the process have been well received. 
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Based on the recommendations of the Subcommittee, as 

reviewed and forwarded to EPA by the full Committee, EPA plans to 

propose NSR rule changes within the next year. In the interim, 

EPA is working with State and local permitting agencies and 

permit applicants to address issues that may arise during the 

permit process to ensure the timely processing of permit 

applications. 

The Subcommittee is expected to consider, at its next 

meeting, some of the specific issues you raised concerning NSR 

applicability to modifications, including procedures for 

determining a source's emissions baseline. This meeting is 

scheduled for September 27-28, 1993, in Durham, North Carolina. 

The meeting is open to the public, as are all Subcommittee 

meetings. For your information, enclosed is a copy of a Federal 

Register notice announcing the meeting. 

I appreciate this opportunity to be of service and trust 

that this information will be helpful to you. 

Sincerel 

Seitz 

"DirectoiL^'' 

Offip£ of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards 

Enclosure 
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•«v\\r 

6560-5 0 

U.S. ENVTRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

[FRL — --] 

New Source Review Reform Subcommittee 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: On July 7, 1993, the EPA gave notice of the 

establishment of the New Source Review (NSR) Reform Subcommittee 

(Subcommittee) (58 FR 36407) under the auspices of the Clean Air 

Act Advisory Committee (55 FR 4 6993) which was established 

pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app I). 

The Subcommittee's purpose is to provide independent advice and 

counsel to the EPA on policy and technical issues associated with 

reforming the NSR rules. 

OPEN MEETING DATE: Notice is hereby given that the Subcommittee 

will hold an open meeting on September 27-28, 1993, from 8 a.m. 

to 5 p.m., at the Sheraton University Center, 2800 Middleton 

Avenue, Durham, North Carolina 27705, telephone (919) 383-8575, 

telefax (919) 383-8495. Due to the size of the meeting room, 

seating is limited to approximately 100 individuals and will be 

made available on a first come, first serve basis. 
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The Subcommittee will address NSR applicability-related 

issues at this meeting. In addition, the NSR Reform Subcommittee 

will review draft options and recommendations developed by 

subgroups on specific areas regarding Class I area impacts and 

best available control technology. 

INSPECTION OF COMMITTEE DOCUMENTS: Documents relating to the 

above noted topics will be publicly available at the meeting. 

Thereafter, these documents, together with the transcript and 

summary of the Subcommittee's meeting, will be available for 

public inspection in EPA Air Docket No. A-90-37. The docket is 

available for public inspection and copying between 8:30 a.m. to 

12 noon and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., weekdays, at EPA's Air Docket 

(LE-131), Room M-1500, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. 

A reasonable fee may be charged for copying. 

The transcript and summary will also be available to the 

public through EPA's Office'of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards' (OAQPS) Technology Transfer Network (TTN) electronic 

bulletin board. For assistance in accessing the OAQPS TTN, 

contact the systems operator at (919) 541-5384 in Research 

Triangle Park, North Carolina during normal business hours. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For questions concerning the 

Subcommittee or its activities, please contact Mr. David Solomon, 
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Designated Federal Official to the Subcommittee, at 

(919) 541-5375, telefax (919) 541-5509, or by mail at 

U.S. EPA/ OAQPS, Air Quality Management Division (MD-15), 

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711. 

*lr>h 

Date/ 7 

•z? 

Offace of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards