To allow time for further review, a Jan. 15 New Source Review final rule specifically regarding the air permitting program’s “aggregation” policy will not take effect before May 18, 2009, according to an EPA press release.

EPA is staying the effective date for 90 days to reconsider the rule in response to the current Office of Management and Budget memorandum regarding regulatory review, and also in response to a Natural Resources Defense Council petition for reconsideration.

New Source Review is a pre-construction permitting program to ensure air quality is maintained when factories, industrial boilers and power plants are built or modified. The program ensures that state-of-the art emission control technology is installed at new plants or existing plants that are undergoing a major modification. Aggregation refers to the grouping of multiple, related physical or operational changes into a single project for evaluating requirements under the New Source Review program.

For more information, visithttp://www.epa.gov/nsr/actions.html.