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United States Environmental Protection Agency
Cooling Water Intake Structures - CWA §316(b)
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Phase II - large existing electric generating plants

Fact Sheet:


    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
    Office of Water
    4304T
    EPA-821-F-03-008
    March 2003

Notice of Data Availability for Proposed Regulations Establishing Location, Design, Construction and Capacity Standards for Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing Facilities

Summary

EPA is releasing a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for public comment. The NODA presents a summary of significant data EPA received or collected since it proposed regulations on April 9, 2002. The NODA discusses how EPA is considering using these new data in revised analyses supporting the rule, some refinements that EPA is considering for the proposed regulatory requirements, and additional information related to data quality. This notice also provides new information on a broader suite of technology options that may be appropriate for compliance at specific sites.

Background

On April 9, 2002, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed standards for cooling water intake structures at Phase II existing facilities (67 FR 17122). The proposed regulations would establish location, design, construction, and capacity standards for cooling water intake structures at large existing power plants pursuant to section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. Following publication of the proposal, EPA collected more data and revised several methodologies related to national costing and benefits estimations. This notice makes these new data available for comment and discusses the relevance of these data to the analyses conducted by EPA.

About this Notice of Data Availability

The NODA contains revisions to costing and benefits methodologies that were described in the
Phase II proposed regulations, supporting information for proposed performance standards and several biological issues, and clarifications for some implementation aspects described in the proposed regulations.

Environmental and Public Health Benefits

EPA anticipates that the regulation that this NODA supports will substantially protect fish and other aquatic organisms from being killed or injured by cooling water intake structures used by large existing power plants. By doing so, EPA anticipates that the ecological integrity of many of the nation's waterbodies (including rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal regions) will be enhanced and ultimately better protected.

How to Get Additional Information

For additional information, please contact Debra D. Hart at (202) 566-6379 or [email protected], or write to her at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Science & Technology, Cooling Water Intake Task Force, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460. To learn more about this NODA and other aspects of EPA's cooling water intake regulations, please visit our internet website at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/316b/.


 

 

 
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