science

New Source Performance Standards

New Source Performance Standards is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand New Source Performance Standards rather than just read about it. In short: New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are pollution control standards issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The term is used in the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (CAA) to refer to air pollution emission standards, and in the Clean Water Act (CWA) referring to standards for water pollution discharges of industrial wastewater to surface waters.

Key takeaways

New Source Performance Standards belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect New Source Performance Standards to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of New Source Performance Standards from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are pollution control standards issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The term is used in the Clean Air Act Extension of 1970 (CAA) to refer to air pollution emission standards, and in the Clean Water Act (CWA) referring to standards for water pollution discharges of industrial wastewater to surface waters.

Introduction Some pollution control laws are organized with varying degrees of stringency. The different standards may be based on several factors, including whether the pollution source is an existing facility at the time the standard is published, or is constructed after publication. The standards for new sources may be more stringent than that for existing facilities, on the principle that a new plant can be designed with the latest and most advanced control technologies.

Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act NSPS dictate the level of pollution that a new stationary source may produce. These standards are authorized by Section 111 of the CAA and the regulations are published in 40 CFR Part 60. NSPS have been established for a number of individual industrial or source categories. Examples:

Air emissions from chemical manufacturing wastewater Boilers Landfills Petroleum refineries Stationary gas turbines.

Basic process for establishing standards Identify type of emitting facility. For each type of facility, identify the type of pollutant control technology that is appropriate. From a study of all the plants and all the information available about the plants and their technologies, establish an allowed concentration of the criteria pollutants that is the upper limit of what can be emitted.

Clean Water Act Under the Clean Water Act, NSPS set the level of allowable wastewater discharges from new industrial facilities. EPA issues NSPS for categories of industrial dischargers, typically in conjunction with the issuance of effluent guidelines for existing sources. In developing NSPS, the CWA requires that EPA determine the "best available demonstrated control technology" (BADCT) for the particular industrial category. BADCT may be more stringent than the best available technology economically achievable standard used for existing dischargers. This consideration may include setting a "no discharge of pollutants standard" (also called a "zero discharge" standard) if practicable. NSPS regulations are published at 40 CFR Subchapter N (Parts 405-499). NSPS issued by EPA include the following categories:

Coal Mining Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (including zero discharge requirements) Dairy Products Inorganic Chemicals Manufacturing (including a zero discharge requirement for several subcategories) Iron and Steel Manufacturing Oil and Gas Extraction Petroleum Refining Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Sugar Processing (including a zero discharge requirement for one subcategory) Textile Mills. EPA published a general definition of "new source" in its wastewater permit regulations. More specialized definitions of "new source" are included in some of the individual category regulations, e.g., the definition for the Pulp, Paper and Paperboard category.

See also National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants New Source Review - CAA pre-construction review process for new or modified facilities

References

External links EPA Air Toxics Program (CAA) Archived 2023-04-24 at the Wayback Machine EPA Effluent Guidelines Program (CWA)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with New Source Performance Standards

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what New Source Performance Standards claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to New Source Performance Standards before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about New Source Performance Standards ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of New Source Performance Standards

In research: New Source Performance Standards appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses New Source Performance Standards in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: New Source Performance Standards is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Air pollution in the United States, Atmospheric dispersion modeling, Code of Federal Regulations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for New Source Performance Standards outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study New Source Performance Standards in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what New Source Performance Standards means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain New Source Performance Standards out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is New Source Performance Standards in simple terms?

Why does New Source Performance Standards matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study New Source Performance Standards?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on New Source Performance Standards.