Pruitt Overturns Past Guidance, Brings in NSR Project Netting

Posted by Eric Hiser, March 18, 2018

On March 13, 2018, EPA Administrator Pruitt issued a memorandum, “Project Emissions Accounting Under the New Source Review Preconstruction Permitting Program” that substantially changes “Step 1” in the NSR emissions calculation. “The purpose of this memorandum is to communicate the EPA’s interpretation that its current NSR regulations provide that emissions decreases as well as increases are to be considered at Step 1 of the NSR applicability process, provided they are part of a single project.” This determination overturns prior guidance dating back to March 2010 that had forbid accounting for any emissions reduction credit in “Step 1,” requiring any such “reductions” to be included solely in the Step 2 netting calculation. The March 13, 2018 memorandum, which recites the “presidential priorities for streamlining regulatory permitting requirements for manufacturing,” represents the next step in Administrator Pruitt’s commitment to “simplifying” the NSR process and “achieving meaningful NSR reform.”