UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
zz4/
WASHINGTON,
D.
C.
20460
Ms.
Maude
Grantham­
Richards
Director,
Farmington
Electric
Utility
System
10
1
N.
Browning
Parkway
Farmington,
NM
87401­
7995
OFFICE
OF
AIR
AN0
RADIATION
1
.....
EPAAIR
DOCKET
1
I
Dear
Ms.
Grantham­
Richards:

Thank
you
for
your
August
20,2001,
letter
to
Senator
Pete
Domenici
in
which
you
enclose
comments
about
the
new
source
review
(
NSR)
program.
Senator
Domenici
forwarded
your
letter
to
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
requesting
that
I
respond
directly
to
you.
In
responding,
I
want
to
briefly
describe
some
of
the
ways
my
Office
is
working
to
improve
the
NSR
program
by
promoting
greater
certainty
and
flexibility
while
assuring
that
environmental
protection
is
maintained.
I
am
optimistic
that
these
efforts
will
appropriately
address
the
issues
you
raise.

First,
Administrator
Whitman
is
expected
to
announce
soon
a
comprehensive
strategy
to
significantly
reduce
power
plant
pollution.
As
part
of
this
strategy,
EPA
is
looking
at
ways
to
promote
regulatory
certainty
at
power
plants
including
certainty
regarding
how
NSR
applies
when
power
plants
construct
or
modify
equipment.
Second,
we
are
currently
following
through
on
a
recommendation
in
the
President's
National
Energy
Policy
that
EPA,
in
consultation
with
the
Secretary
of
Energy
and
other
relevant
agencies,
review
NSR
regulations
and
report
to
the
President
on
the
impact
of
the
regulations
on
investment
in
new
utility
and
refinery
generation
capacity,
energy
efficiency,
and
environmental
protection.
Once
we
release
our
comprehensive
strategy,
we
will
report
to
the
President
on
whether
additional
improvements
to
the
NSR
program
are
needed.
Third,
we
continue
to
develop
improvements
to
the
NSR
program
that
build
upon
our
1996
NSR
improvement
proposal
and
the
substantial
stakeholder
feedback
we
have
received
since
then.
Together
these
efforts
should
result
in
a
much
more
effective
NSR
program.

As
we
move
forward,
we
are
fully
considering
stakeholder
comments
like
those
you
made.
Since
May,
we
have
met
with
over
100
stakeholder
groups,
have
held
four
public
meetings,
and
have
received
comment
letters
from
over
130,000
individuals
and
organizations.
Several
groups
have
expressed
concerns
similar
to
yours
about
the
Detroit
Edison
determination
and
EPA's
interpretation
of
the
"
routine
maintenance"
exemption
from
NSR,
and
we
are
currently
evaluating
how
best
to
proceed
on
this
and
other
issues.

lntemet
Address
(
URL)
e
http:
Nw.
epa.
gov
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2
Thank
you
for
your
interest
in
this
issue.
I
hope
you
will
continue
to
stay
involved
in
our
efforts
to
improve
the
NSR
program.
I
appreciate
the
opportunity
to
be
of
service
and
trust
that
the
information
provided
is
helpful
to
you.

Sincerely,

­
4)
Jeffrey
R.
Holmstead
Assistant
Administrator
cc:
Senator
Pete
V.
Domenici
