By Joseph Bast, James Taylor, Jay Lehr (1938 – 2023)
The New Source Review (NSR) program is arguably the least effective and most costly part of the Clean Air Act. Opponents of reform seem to be putting partisan politics ahead of genuine concern for environmental protection. (Not, unfortunately, for the first time.) Reform, not defending the status quo, should be a top priority of environmentalists, business owners, and consumers.
This 23-page evaluation of EPA’s reform recommendations concludes the failure to apply common sense to the New Source Review program has burdened American consumers and American industry with higher economic costs and higher levels of
pollution than were envisioned by Congress when it wrote the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977.
The country would be better served if NSR were changed to clarify and make more certain the scope of the routine maintenance exclusion and the method used to measure future emissions. Even better would be a move away from the costly and often counterproductive style of end-of-the-pipe regulation represented by NSR.
