UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
Office
of
Air
Quality
Planning
and
Standards
Research
Triangle
Park,
North
Carolina
27711
September
3,
1992
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
New
Source
Review
(
NSR)
Program
Supplemental
Transitional
Guidance
on
Applicability
of
New
Part
D
NSR
Permit
Requirements
FROM:
John
S.
Seitz,
Director
/
s/
Office
of
Air
Quality
Planning
and
Standards
(
MD­
10)

TO:
Addressees
The
Clean
Air
Act
Amendments
of
1990
(
1990
CAAA)
made
numerous
changes
to
the
NSR
requirements
in
the
Clean
Air
Act
(
Act).
To
address
some
immediate
concerns
generated
by
the
1990
CAAA,
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
issued
an
initial
NSR
transitional
memorandum
on
March
11,
1991,
entitled
"
New
Source
Review
Program
Transitional
Guidance."
This
memorandum
supplements
that
effort
by
clarifying
EPA
guidance
regarding
the
permitting
of
new
or
modified
sources
in
situations
where
a
State
does
not
submit
a
State
implementation
plan
(
SIP)
revision
implementing
the
augmented
Part
D
NSR
provisions
of
the
1990
CAAA
by
the
applicable
statutory
deadline.
The
statutory
deadlines
for
submission
of
revised
NSR
SIP's
are
listed
in
the
attachment.
Moreover,
as
more
fully
set
forth
in
the
March
11,
1991
transitional
memorandum,
this
supplemental
memorandum
sets
forth
nonbinding
guidance
that
does
not
create
any
rights
or
otherwise
predetermine
the
outcome
of
any
procedures.
Also,
many
of
EPA's
interpretations
of
the
new
Part
D
NSR
requirements
are
in
the
"
General
Preamble
for
the
Implementation
of
Title
I
of
the
Clean
Air
Act
Amendments
of
199011
(
General
Preamble)
(
see
57
FR
13498,
13552­
556,
April
16,
1992).
These
interpretations
are
not
affected
by
this
memorandum.

Title
I
of
the
199CAAA
requires
that
States
with
nonattainment
areas
or
areas
in
the
Northeast
Ozone
Transport
Region
(
NOTR)
submit
to
EPA,
by
specified
deadlines,
augmented
new
source
permit
rules
which
meet
the
amended
requirements
of
Part
D
of
Title
I
of
the
Act.
For
example,
for
NSR
permit
2
programs
in
most
ozone
nonattainment
areas
and
the
NOTR,
section
182
of
the
Act
specifies
increased
offset
ratios,
lower
source
applicability
thresholds,
and
presumptive
treatment
of
nitrogen
oxides
(
NOx)
as
ozone
(
O
3)
precursors.
For
ozone,
the
1990
CAAA
require
that
States
submit
SIP's
meeting
the
amended
Part
D
NSR
requirements
by
November
15,
1992.

Where
States
do
not
submit
the
Part
D
NSR
SIP
by
the
applicable
statutory
deadline
(
and
for
purposes
of
determining
the
approvability
of
revised
NSR
SIP's),
sources
that
have
submitted
complete
permit
applications
(
as
determined
by
the
reviewing
authority)
by
the
submittal
deadline
may
receive
final
permits
under
existing
State
NSR
rules.
In
this
situation,
such
sources
will
be
considered
by
EPA
to
be
in
compliance
with
the
Act
without
meeting
the
amended
Part
D
NSR
provisions
of
the
1990
CAAA,
provided
they
meet
the
following
conditions:

1.
The
State
and
source
move
expeditiously
towards
final
permit
issuance.

2.
Construction
begins
no
later
than
18
months
from
the
date
of
permit
issuance
unless
an
earlier
time
is
required
under
the
applicable
SIP.

3.
Construction
is
not
discontinued
for
a
period
of
18
months
or
more.

4.
Construction
is
completed
within
a
reasonable
time.
States
may
not
grant
permit
extensions
beyond
these
time
periods
unless
the
permittee
is
required
in
a
federally­
enforceable
manner
to
meet
the
new
Part
D
NSR
provisions.

Sources
approved
for
construction
in
distinct
phases
require
additional
clarification.
Individual
phases
of
a
construction
project
are
considered
either
as
"
mutually
dependent"
or
"
mutually
independent"
from
the
other
phases.
Mutually­
dependent
phases
are
those
where
construction
of
one
phase
necessitates
the
construction
of
the
other
in
order
to
complete
a
given
project
or
provide
a
different
type
(
not
level)
of
service.
An
example
of
a
project
with
possible
mutually­
dependent
phases
is
a
kraft
pulp
mill,
where
all
phases
of
construction
are
needed
to
complete
the
project
and
produce
paper.
on
the
other
hand,
an
example
of
a
project
with
possible
independent
phases
is
a
three­
boiler,
electric
power
plant,
where
each
boiler
could
be
a
mutually
independent
phase
providing
different
levels
of
electrical
power.
3
For
phased
construction
projects
with
complete
Permit
applications
submitted
by
the
Part
D
NSR
statutory
deadline
for
SIP
submittal,
EPA
will
grandfather
individual
phases
from
meeting
the
new
Part
D
NSR
requirements,
provided:

1.
For
mutually­
dependent
phases,
if
one
of
the
facilities
has
met
the
construction
conditions
of
this
guidance
(
e.
g.,
begins
construction
within
18
months
of
permit
issuance),
then
all
dependent
phases
specifically
permitted
at
the
same
time
will
hold
such
status.

2.
For
mutually­
independent
phases,
each
phase
that
meets
the
construction
conditions
of
this
guidance
(
e.
g.,
begins
construction
of
that
phase
within
18
months
of
initial
permit
issuance)
will
hold
such
status.

Also,
under
today's
guidance,
where
States
miss
the
statutory
deadline
for
Part
D
NSR
SIP
submittal,
for
sources
that
have
not
submitted
complete
permit
applications
by
the
SIP
submittal
deadline,
EPA
will
also
consider
the
source
to
be
in
compliance
with
the
Act
where
the
source
obtains
from
the
State
a
permit
that
is
consistent
with
the
substantive
new
NSR
Part
D
provisions
in
the
1990
CAAA.
The
substantive
new
provisions
are
the
new
applicability
thresholds,
the
new
offset
ratios,
the
offset
requirements
of
section
173,
and
the
NO,
requirements
of
section
182(
f)
for
most
03
nonattainment
areas
and
the
NOTR.

The
State,
of
course,
must
be
sure
that
all
permits
contain
the
minimum
requirements
for
a
Part
D
NSR
permit
as
required
by
the
current
SIP
or,
where
applicable,
the
Emission
Offset
Interpretative
Ruling
(
40
CFR
Part
51,
Appendix
S
(
Offset
Ruling)].

Please
note
that
the
Act
allows
States
to
implement
the
new
Part
D
NSR
provisions
prior
to
the
statutory
deadlines
and
in
a
manner
more
stringent
than
EPA
guidance
or
rules.
Thus,
today's
guidance
does
not
apply
in
any
State
to
the
extent
that
the
State's
own
rules
or
transitional
guidance
is
more
stringent.

The
Act,
as
amended,
requires
offsets
for
all
source
categories,
and
emissions
reductions
are
on
a
tons­
per­
year
basis.
To
the
extent
Appendix
S
is
incompatible
with
these
statutory
provisions,
it
must
be
considered
superseded
by
the
1990
CAAA.

1
The
ACT,
as
amended,
requires
offsets
for
al
source
categories,
and
emissions
reductions
are
on
a
tons­
per­
year
basis.
To
the
extent
Appendix
S
is
incompatible
with
these
statutory
provisions,
it
must
be
considered
superseded
by
the
1990
CAAA.

The
Regional
Offices
should
send
this
memorandum
to
their
States.
Questions
concerning
specific
issues
and
cases
should
be
directed
to
the
appropriate
EPA
Regional
Office.
If
you
have
any
general
questions,
please
contact
Mr.
Michael
Sewell
of
the
New
Source
Review
Section
at
(
919)
541­
0873.
Attachment
Addressees
Director,
Air,
Pesticides
and
Toxics
Division,
Regions
I,
IV,
and­
VI
Director,
Air
and
Waste
Management
Division,
Region
II
Director,
Air,
Radiation
and
Toxics
Division,
Region
III
Director,
Air
and
Radiation
Division,
Region
V
Director,
Air
and
Toxics
Division,
Regions
VII,
VIII,
IX,
and
X
4
ATTACHMENT
As
required
by
the
Clean
Air
Act
Amendments
of
1990,
the
statutory
deadlines
for
States
to
submit
new
Part
D
new
source
review
(
NSR)
rules
to
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
are:

!
May
15,
1992
for
or
sulfur
dioxide
(
S02)
nonattainment
areas
without
approved
S02
SIP
is
prior
to
enactment
[
see
section
191(
b)];

!
November
15,
1993
for
all
other
S02
nonattainment
areas
designated
prior
to
enactment
[
see
section
172(
b)];

!
May
15,
1992
for
nitrogen
dioxide
(
N02)
nonattainment
areas
(
see
section
191(
b)];

!
July
6,
1993
for
lead
nonattainment
areas
designated
on
January
6,
1992
(
see
section
191(
a)],

!
June
30,
1992
for
particulate
matter
(
PM­
10
nonattainment
areas
(
see
section
189(
a)(
2)(
A)];

!
November
15,
1992
for
ozone
nonattainment
areas
and
November
15,
1992
for
carbon
monoxide
(
CO)
nonattainment
areas
with
a
design
value
above
12.7
parts
per
million
(
ppm)
(
see
section
187(
a)(
7)];
and
!
November
15,
1993
for
CO
nonattainment
areas
with
a
design
value
of
12.7
ppm
or
less
[
see
section
172(
b)
].

For
future
nonattainment
designations,
Part
D
NSR
rules
are
due
within
18
months
from
redesignation
for
all
SO,,
NO2,
PM­
10,
and
lead
nonattainment
areas
[
see
sections
189(
a)(
2)(
B)
and
191(
a)],
and
within
2
years
of
redesignation
for
ozone
[
see
section
181(
b)(
1)]
and
many
CO
nonattainment
areas
(
within
3
years
for
CO
nonattainment
areas
with
design
values
less
than
12.7
ppm)
[
see
section
186(
b)(
1)].
