national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)

The NSR program was designed to ensure that new facilities would not threaten air quality and still allow for economic growth. The NSR program has been in effect since 1980. There are two parts of NSR program. They are “nonattainment area review” and “Prevention of Significant Deterioration” (PSD). You should note that there were fairly significant revisions to NSR that became effective on March 2003, and more revisions are expected. To learn more about the specifics of these changes, see the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) Web site at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/air/, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Web site at http://www.epa.gov/air/nsr-review/.