The New Source Review program (NSR) is a critical tool enacted by Congress 25 years ago to protect public health and improve the nation's air quality. But, as applied to existing facilities, NSR is not working as Congress intended. Thus NSR should be fundamentally reformed and strongly enforced against past violations by existing facilities. The complicated NSR program has been effective in controlling air pollution from newly built industrial facilities and utilities, but it has performed poorly in reducing pollution from the nations oldest and dirtiest factories and power plants. The result is unfair to facilities that have invested in upgrading their equipment to reduce pollution, while others have avoided controlling their pollution. NSR's unpredictable and lengthy permitting process is also detrimental to facilities that must change operations quickly to compete effectively. Finally, NSR is not having the positive effect on the health of individuals, or on the quality of the nations air, that Congress intended. In this report commissioned by Congress, a Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) recommends that the oldest and dirtiest facilities be given a firm deadline to install cleaner equipment or close down.