The
Honorable
Mary
L.
Landrieu
United
States
Senate
Washington,
DC
205
10­
1
804
Dear
Senator
Landrieu:
THE
.
ADMINISTRATOR
Thank
you
for
your
letter
of
August
10,200
1,
in
which
you
describe
concerns
raised
by
many
of
your
constituents
about
the
.
impact
of
the
New
Source
Review
(
NSR)
program
on
energy
production
and
use
at
industrial
facilities.
You
dcscribe
particular
concerns
about
the
potential
for
delays
and
uncertainty
associated
with
NSR
to
discourage
efficiency
and
reliability
improvements
and
needed
maintenance.
I
have
heard
similar
concerns,
and
I
believe
that
we
must
examine
them
in
an
effort
to
streamline
NSR
and
promote
greater
flexibility
and
certainty
while
preserving
the
environmental
benefits
that
the
NSR
program
achieves.

As
you
note,
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
has
been
engaged
in
just
such
an
examination,
consistent
with
the
National
Energy
Policy
Report,
which
recobended
that
I,
in
consultation
with
the
Secretary
of
Energy
and
other
relevant
agencies,
review
NSR
regulations,
including
administrative
interpretation
and
implementation
and
report
to
the
President
on
the
impact
of
NSR
on
investment
in
new
utility
and
refinery
generation
capacity,
energy
efficiency,
and
environmental
protection.
During
this
review,
the
EPA
has
received
over
130,000
mitten
comments,
met
with
over
100
stakeholder
groups,
and
heard
from
over
250
witnesses
at
four
hearings
around
the
country,
including
one
in
Baton
Rouge.
We
are
now
in
the
process
of
reviewing
those
comments
and
determining
what
improvements
to
NSR
are
needed
to
address
concerns
l
i
e
those
raised
by
your
constituents.
I
expect
to
issue
my
fmd
report
on
NSR
shortly
after
I
propose
a
comprehensive
strategy
that
will
significantly
reduce
air
pollution
at
power
plants.

Again,
thank
you
for
writing.
I
appreciate
your
interest
in
this
issue
and
look
forward
to
sharing
our
recommendations
with
you
when
our
review
is
completed.
If
you
have
further
questions,
please
do
not
hesitate
to
contact
me
or
your
staff
may
contact
Diann
Frantz
of
our
Congressional
and
Intergovernmental
Relations
office
at
(
202)
564­
3668.

Sincerely
yours,

L
T
M
­
Christine
Todd
Whitman
internet
Address
(
URL)
http://
w.
epa.
gov
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