New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act
Rep. Griffith Introduces the New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act to Ease Industrial Upgrade Rules
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- This bill changes the rules for when factories, refineries, and power plants must get new federal pollution permits. Currently, making even small changes to a facility can trigger a long and expensive legal process that can take years to complete.
- Under this plan, a project would only need a new permit if it increases the maximum amount of pollution the facility can produce in a single hour. It compares the new equipment to the highest pollution levels the facility reached at any point in the last 10 years.
- The bill creates a "safe harbor" for projects designed to make a plant safer, more reliable, or more efficient. These upgrades would be exempt from the permit process unless the government can prove the change would harm public health or the environment.
- The goal is to make it easier for companies to modernize their equipment and fix old parts without being held up by government red tape. While this helps businesses update their facilities, some environmental groups worry it could allow plants to run more often and increase total yearly emissions.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Life & Work
Large agricultural operations that include stationary emission sources — such as ethanol plants or large feedlots with processing facilities — could benefit from streamlined permitting when making efficiency or safety upgrades. However, this affects only the subset of farmers tied to industrial-scale operations.
Disabilities
Milestones
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 542.
The bill is now on the schedule for the full chamber to consider. It's in line for debate and a vote.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-625.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 28 - 23.
The committee approved this bill and is sending it to the full chamber for a vote. This is a significant step — most bills never get this far.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by the Yeas and Nays: 12 - 11.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
2 articlesCP Daily News Ticker: 11 December 2025
The New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act (HR 161) would narrow when industrial projects trigger Clean Air Act New Source Review by tightening the definitions of 'modification' and 'construction'. The bill bases applicability on whether a project would raise a facility's maximum hourly emission rate above its highest level in the past decade.
EPA abandons New Source Review proposal
At issue was a proposed change to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review (NSR) provisions used to determine whether power plants should be required to install modern pollution controls. EPA's proposal called for using an hourly emissions test instead of an annual test.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
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