Cooling Water Intakes - Final 2014 Rule for Existing Electric Generating Plants and Factories
This rule covers roughly 1,065 existing facilities that are designed to withdraw at least 2 million gallons per day of cooling water. EPA estimates that 521 of these facilities are factories, and the other 544 are power plants.
- The facilities are required to choose one of seven options to reduce mortality to fish and other aquatic organisms.
- Facilities that withdraw at least 125 million gallons per day must conduct studies to help their permitting authority determine whether and what site-specific controls, if any, would be required to further reduce mortality of aquatic organisms.
- New units added to an existing facility are required to reduce mortality of aquatic organisms that achieves one of two alternatives under national entrainment
entrainmentWhen aquatic organisms, including eggs and larvae, are pulled from a water body into an industrial facility cooling system, passed through the heat exchanger, and then discharged back into the source water body. standards. - EPA consulted with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service pursuant to the Endangered Species Act.
- Final Biological Opinion and Appendices (May 19, 2014)
- Final Rule: Federal Register Notice (August 15, 2014)
- Support documents, including
- Fact sheet and news release
- Technical Development Document
Engineering analysis of technologies and costs - Economic Analysis
Economic cost and impact analyses - Benefits Analysis
Analysis of environmental impacts and benefits of regulation of cooling water intakes
- Docket Information: The supporting record for the final rule is available at Regulations.gov. The docket number for the rule is EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0667
- Proposed Rule (2011), related notices