Assessing the Gap Between Actual and

Legislation like the CHIPS Act of 2022 is encouraging an increase in US semiconductor production. While an uptick in domestic manufacturing enhances technology security, air pollutant emissions will increase. In order to understand the gap between the actual and permitted emission levels, this study compares the actual quantity of various air pollutants to their permitted cap limits. We obtain reported data from the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) and the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) and permit caps from state departments of environmental quality to calculate ratio coefficients that can be used to project emissions from new semiconductor fabrication plants before GHGRP and NEI data is collected and released. The study reveals that most manufacturers analyzed are emitting pollutants well below their permitted caps, with approximately 80% of the gases examined having median emissions at less than 25% of their allowed limit. This suggests that updating emission permit policies could enhance the effectiveness of the U.S. permitting system.