Air Pollution Control Division Stationary Sources New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)

Air Pollution Control Division

New Source Performance Standards
Stationary Sources Program

What are NSPS?	NSPS and Permitting Requirements
What industries are subject to NSPS?	NSPS guidance documents and links
Do NSPS apply to my facility?

What are NSPS?

New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are federal standards adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate air emissions by many types of industrial facilities. They can be found in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 60 . Once a year, the Colorado Air Quality Commission adopts by reference any new or revised New Source Performance Standards for implementation at the state level.

All industries subject to NSPS must meet certain general requirements, such as monitoring and record keeping. In addition, certain specific requirements apply to each type of industry subject to NSPS. Each NSPS defines the facilities subject to it and prescribes emission limits for specified pollutants, compliance requirements, monitoring requirements, and test methods and procedures. Air emission permits issued by the State typically reference NSPS requirements where applicable to the source.

What industries are subject to NSPS?

New NSPS are issued periodically. Following is a partial list of industries for which an NSPS has been developed.

Ammonium sulfate manufacturers;
Asphalt processing and asphalt roofing
manufacturing;
Bulk gasoline terminals;
Calciners and dryers at mineral
processing plants;
Coal preparation plants;
Electric utility steam generating units;
Equipment leaks of VOCs in the synthetic organic chemicals manufacturing industry;
Ferroalloy production;
Fossil fuel-fired steam generators of more than 250 million BTU heat input;
Glass manufacturing plants;
Grain terminal elevators;
Graphic arts industry: publication rotogravure printing;
Hot mix asphalt plants;
Incinerators of more than 50 tons per day charging rate;
Industrial surface coating operations for (a) metal furniture, (b) automobile and light duty trucks at assembly plants, (c) pressure sensitive tape and label (d) large appliances, (e) metal coil, (f) beverage can, and (g) plastic parts for business machines.
Industrial-commercial-institutional steam generating units with a heat input capacity from fuels combusted in the steam generating unit of greater than 29 MW (100 million Btu/hr);
Industrial-commercial-institutional steam generating units with a maximum design heat input capacity of 29 megawatts (100 million Btu/hr) or less, but greater than or equal to 2.9 megawatts (10 million Btu/hr);
Iron and steel plants;
Iron and steel plants: secondary emissions;
Kraft pulp mills;
Lead-acid battery manufacturing plants;
Lime manufacturing plants;
Magnetic tape coating facilities;
Metallic mineral processing plants;
Municipal solid waste landfills;
Municipal waste combustors;

Nitric acid plants;
Nonmetallic mineral processing plants;
Petroleum dry cleaners;
Petroleum refineries;
Petroleum storage vessels;
Phosphate rock plants;
Polymeric coating of supporting substrates;
Portland cement plants;
Primary copper smelters;
Primary zinc smelters;
Primary lead smelters;
Primary aluminum reduction plants;
Rotogravure printing lines used to print or coat flexible vinyl and urethane products;
Rubber tire manufacturing plants;
Secondary lead smelters;
Secondary brass and bronze ingot production plants;
Sewage treatment plants;
Solvent-spun synthetic fiber production facilities;
Stationary gas turbines;
Steel plants: electric arc furnaces and argon-oxygen decarburization vessels;
Sulfuric acid plants;
Sulfuric acid production units;
VOC emissions from petroleum refinery wastewater systems;
VOC emissions from the polymer manufacturing industry;
VOC emissions from synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry air oxidation unit processes;
VOC emissions from synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry distillation;
VOC emissions from synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry reactor processes;
VOC emissions from synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry reactor processes; and
Wool fiberglass insulation manufacturing plants.

Do NSPS apply to my facility?

To determine if an NSPS is applicable to your facility, access USEPA's NSPS website at CFR 60 , and look for your your industry type. Also look for the applicability date to determine when the NSPS was issued. If your facility was constructed or modified on or after the applicability date, then determine whether your facility meets the other applicability determining factors. If your facility was constructed prior to the applicability date and has not been modified since, it is most likely not subject to the NSPS. Several of the newer NSPS standards (landfills and hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators are broken into two sections in the federal regulations, one for new sources and one for existing. Be sure to check for multiple sections of the regulation.

Need Help?

The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) provides user-friendly flowcharts and other tools to help businesses navigate through the NSPSs. Visit the TNRCC NSPS Decision Support System for more information. If you are a small business owner or operator, you may also contact the Small Business Assistance Program for additional assistance.

NSPS and permitting requirements

NSPS sources usually require an air emission permit. Any facility that is subject to a MACT standard is also subject to air permitting requirements. The Construction Permit Unit provides more information on air permits for all sources, while the Operating Permit Unit provides more information on air permits for larger sources.

Stationary Sources I Air Pollution Control Division

Suggestions and comments regarding the Air Quality Control Division can be forwarded to comments.apcd@state.co.us