Three plans open for NOx control in states
The US EPA has proposed three regulatory options to maintain air quality in areas that meet national air quality standards for nitrogen oxides. The Clean
Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) programme for NOx limits the amount of air quality deterioration that may occur in any given area. New and modified industrial facilities must evaluate the impact of their NOx emissions to demonstrate that they will not cause or contribute to a violation of any national ambient air quality standard. To ensure that air quality does not deteriorate in PSD areas, states and tribes issue Clean Air Act permits requiring proposed new and expanded facilities to install state-of-the-art air pollution controls. The three options are to retain the existing increments system for NOx as established in October 1988; to allow states to choose to implement an interstate cap and trade programme in place of the existing increments system; or to allow states to adopt their own planning strategies and implement these in lieu of the increment system.
EPA will accept comment on this proposal for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. For further information and a pre-publication copy of the proposed rule, visit: http://www.epa.gov/nsr/actions.html .