The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in October 2009 seeking comment on proposed approaches to improving the emissions factors program, including proposing to require the submission (via electronic reporting) of performance testing information already collected by industry by revising the reporting requirements in 40 CFR part 60 for new source performance standards (NSPS). Performance tests are conducted periodically to measure the air pollutant emissions from an industrial process and are used as an indicator of compliance with regulations. On March 20, 2015, EPA proposed amending approximately 75 NSPS to require electronic submission to the EPA of performance test data, as well as other selected compliance data, such as excess emissions reports, that are already being compiled and submitted by industry to regulatory authorities. The EPA published an extension to the public comment period for the NPRM on May 19, 2015 (80 FR 28571), providing the public an additional 30 days to comment, increasing the public comment period to a total of 90 days.

This action is being withdrawn from the regulatory agenda. EPA has already updated some of the NSPS regulations covered by this rulemaking to include electronic reporting requirements. EPA intends to continue to add electronic reporting requirements to NSPS regulations individually as they are updated during technology reviews. This revised approach to incorporating electronic reporting requirements into NSPS regulations will allow EPA to achieve the same results as this broader rulemaking while also allowing EPA to create electronic reporting requirements that are more tailored to individual subparts and reflect the most up-to-date electronic reporting processes.