New Source Review (NSR) Permitting

New Source Review (NSR) requires stationary sources of air pollution to get permits before construction starts.

New Source Review (NSR) Permitting

EPA's New Source Review (NSR) permitting program protects air quality when factories, industrial boilers and power plants are newly built or modified. NSR permitting also assures that:

new or modified industries are as clean as possible, and
advances in pollution control occur concurrently with industrial expansion.

Basic
Information

Learn about New Source Review:
- NSR basics
- What are permits?
- Who issues permits?

Laws,
Regulatory Actions,
and Guidance

Where You Live

Types of
CAA Permits

Clean Air Act Permitting includes:

Outer Continental Shelf and Deepwater Permits
NSR Permitting (this website)
- GHG Permitting
Title V Operating Permits
Tribal Permits

News and Announcements

January 5, 2021 - Final Error Corrections Rule

October 22, 2020 - Project Emissions Accounting final rule.

August 5, 2020 - Guidance on Plantwide Applicability Limitation Provisions Under the New Source Review Regulations.

March 25, 2020 - Draft Guidance: Interpretation of "Begin Actual Construction" Under the New Source Review Preconstruction Permitting Regulations is available for public comment until May 11, 2020.

March 19, 2020 - Final Amendments to the Federal Implementation Plan for Managing Air Emissions from True Minor Sources in Indian Country in the Oil and Natural Gas Production and Natural Gas Process Segments of the Oil and Natural Gas Sector

December 3, 2019 - "Ambient Air" Guidance

November 26, 2019 - Proposed NSR Error Corrections Rule and Factsheet

November 26, 2019 - "Adjacent" Guidance

November 6, 2019 - New online search features added to NSR Guidance Database

November 5, 2019 - Letter to New Jersey regarding Reconsideration of December 21, 2007 final rule, "Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Nonattainment New Source Review: Reasonable Possibility in Recordkeeping."

October 21, 2019 - 2019 Letter on Granting in Part and Denying in Part a Petition for Reconsideration of the 2007 Ethanol Rule

August 1, 2019 - Proposed Project Emissions Accounting Rule

Keys to Permitting Success

Plan. Communicate. Be flexible. Collaborate.

EPA has set a goal to make Agency permit decisions within six months by 2022. To that end, EPA’s Smart Sectors Program is discovering strategies that result in efficient environmental permitting processes. When Boeing decided to secure additional land for future growth in Charleston, SC, it received air and wetlands permits just a few months after submitting permit applications.