The US District Court for the DC circuit halted an attempt by the administration (through the EPA) to weaken the Clean Air Act Amendments that were signed into law by Bush's father.
One provision of the Act requires that sources that undergo "any physical change" that increases emissions undergo the much more rigorous New Source Review (NSR) permitting process. Once NSR was triggered, sources could be forced to upgrade their facilities to more modern and effective control technologiesâ"a potentially expensive proposition.
A longstanding loophole was that "routine maintenance, repair, and replacement" was not necessarily a change that would trigger NSR. The EPA expanded this loophole by saying that replacement of components with "identical or functionally equivalent components" was not a not "change" under the act unless the cost was more than 20% of the replacement value of the unit, even if it resulted in emission increases.
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