EPA

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EPAs New Rule for Cooling Water Intake
Structures at Existing (Phase II) Facilities
Kristy A.N. BulleitHunton Williams1900 K
Street, N.W.Washington, DC 20006 202-955-1547
kbulleit_at_hunton.com
James N. Christman and Elizabeth E. Aldridge
Hunton WilliamsRiverfront Plaza, East Tower,
951 East Byrd Street Richmond, VA
23219 804-788-8368 jchristman_at_hunton.com 804-788
-8549 ealdridge_at_hunton.com
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Background

• Phase II rule for existing facilities was signed
  February 16, 2004
• To be published in the Federal Register in about
  mid-March 2004
• Becomes final for judicial review purposes two
  weeks after publication in the Federal Register

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Background

• On February 3, 2004, the Second Circuit Court of
  Appeals ruled that restoration cannot be used for
  new (Phase I) facilities
• Nevertheless, EPA decided to allow restoration in
  the Phase II rule, but limited the circumstances
  under which it can be used.

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Applies to a Facility If

• Primary activity is to generate and transmit
  electric power or to generate electric power for
  sale to a different entity for transmission
• Has a total design intake flow ? 50 MGD
• Uses ? 25 of water withdrawn exclusively for
  cooling purposes
• Commenced construction on or before January 17,
  2002

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Adding New Units

• Existing facility includes any modification of
  or addition of a unit at an existing facility
  that is not a new facility ( 125.83)
• An existing facility that adds a new generating
  unit at the same site for repowering and
  concurrently increases the design capacity of its
  intake structure or adds a new intake structure
  where it did not previously have one (when
  converting a gas turbine to a combined cycle
  unit, for example) is an existing facility

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Existing Facility Includes

• New units added to a facility for purposes of the
  same general industrial operation
• EPA does not want to discourage upgrades,
  modifications, or repowering that would increase
  energy efficiency or supply

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The Rule in a NutshellTwo Performance Standards

• Calculate baseline
• Reduce impingement mortality 80-90 from baseline
• Also reduce entrainment 60-90 if
• Capacity utilization ? 15 (not a peaking unit)
  and either
• Withdrawn water from tidal river, estuary, ocean,
  or Great Lakes or
• Design intake flow withdraws gt 5 of mean annual
  flow of freshwater river or stream

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Capacity Utilization Rate

• Ratio of average annual net generation (in MWh)
  and total net capability to generate power (in
  MW) multiplied by number of hours during year.
• If facility has multiple CWIS and each structure
  serves a separate unit or group of units, CWIS
  capacity utilization rate may be calculated
  separately.

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Capacity Utilization Rate (contd)

• Measured over representative 5 year period,
  unless plant commits to remain below 15
• Only applies to steam units

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Five Ways to Comply

• Cooling water flow commensurate with a
  closed-cycle recirculating system
• -- Maximum through-screen design intake
  velocity of 0.5 ft/s meets impingement mortality
  standard only
• Demonstrate that existing intake reduces
  impingement mortality 80-95 from a calculation
  baseline and, for some plants, reduces
  entrainment 60-90

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Five Ways to Comply (contd)

• Reduce impingement mortality 80-95 and, for some
  plants, reduce entrainment by 60-90 using
• - Design and construction technologies
• - Operational measures
• - Restoration, in some cases
• In freshwater rivers and streams, use cylindrical
  wedge-wire screens meeting conditions in
  125.99(a)(1)
• - Or a technology-approved by the state that
  can consistently meet the performance standards
  in the state

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Conditions for Wedge-wire Screens

• Freshwater river or stream
• Sufficient ambient counter currents to promote
  cleaning of screen face
• Maximum through-screen design intake velocity?
  0.5 ft/s
• Slot size appropriate for eggs, larvae, and
  juveniles at site
• Entire main condenser cooling water flow directed
  through the screens (except small flows lt 2 MGD
  for auxiliary plant cooling)

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Five Ways to Comply (contd)

1. Site-specific requirements under the cost-cost or
   cost-benefit test

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Applying the Performance Standards

• Calculation baseline Estimate of impingement
  mortality and entrainment that would occur
  assuming
• Cooling water system designed as once-through
• Opening located at the shoreline near the water
  surface
• 3/8-inch mesh traveling screen parallel to the
  shoreline
• No controls implemented in whole or in part for
  the purpose of reducing impingement mortality and
  entrainment.

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Applying the Performance Standards

• EPA intends to allow credit for
• Angled screen face to guide organisms away from
  intake structure
• Opening place in water column instead of at
  surface
• Any structural or operational controls used in
  whole or part to reduce impingement mortality or
  entrainment
• As built baseline assessment also allowed.

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Special Provisions forLakes and Reservoirs

• If you withdraw cooling water from a lake
• (other than the Great Lakes) or reservoir,
• and you propose to increase the design intake
  flow,
• then, increased flow must not disrupt the
  natural thermal stratification or turnover
  pattern
• unless the disruption does not adversely affect
  management of fisheries

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Interpreting thePerformance Standards

• Permit writer has significant discretion as to
  how the performance standards are applied in the
  permit
• Permit writer may determine that all species must
  be considered or only representative species
• Permit writer averaging period apparently can be
  up to a full five-year permit term (see preamble
  p. 163)

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Exceptions for Excessive Costs

• Rule offers cost-cost test and cost-benefit
  test
• If your costs are significantly greater, you
  can get site-specific requirements

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Cost-Cost Test

• Six-step process prescribed
• Determine what technology EPA used for your
  facility
• Use EPAs costing equation to calculate
  annualized capital and net operation and
  maintenance costs for a facility with your design
  intake flow using the technology chosen by EPA

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Cost-Cost Test (contd)

• Calculate your own costs and show that they are
  significantly greater than the costs estimated
  by EPAs method
• Significantly is not defined

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Cost-Benefit Test

• Cost of compliance must be significantly greater
  than the benefits of complying
• While entrainment survival is not part of
  performance standard, it may be considered
  through application of cost-benefit test.

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Costs and Benefits

• EPA has retreated from some of its worst
  cost-benefit methods
• 50 rule for non-use benefits
• Habitat replacement cost analysis of benefits
• Societal revealed preference analysis for
  threatened and endangered species

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Benefits Valuation Study Requirments

• Describe methodology
• Develop valuation estimates
• Document assumptions
• Analyze sources of uncertainty
• Arrange for peer review (consulting resource
  agencies about peer reviewers)
• Describe non-monetized benefits

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What Site-Specific Requirements?

• The site-specific alternative technology must
  achieve an efficacy that is
• As close as practicable to the applicable
  performance standards
• Without resulting in costs that are significantly
  greater than the EPA costs or the calculated
  benefits at your facility

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Operational Measures

• You may meet the performance standards by
  operational measures
• Reductions in cooling water intake flow
• Variable speed pumps
• Seasonal flow reductions or shutdowns
• More frequent rotation of traveling screens

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Restoration

• Restoration can be used only if permittee first
  shows that design and construction
  technologies/operational measures are less
  feasible, less cost-effective, or less
  environmentally desirable.
• Restoration results must be substantially similar
  to performance standards or site-specific
  alternative.
• Restoration Plan may focus on species of concern
  to resources agencies.

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Application Requirements

• All plants must submit source waterbody physical
  data, CWIS data, and cooling system data
• Plants that neither have nor propose to install
  closed-cycle cooling will have to perform and
  submit a Comprehensive Demonstration Study (CDS)
  (unless plant has design velocity lt 0.5 ft./s and
  is subject only to impingement requirements, in
  which case no CDS required).

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Application Requirements (contd)

• CDS components depend on specific compliance
  option chosen.
• Unless facility plans to show it already meets
  performance standards, all CDS start with
  submission of Proposal for Information Collection
  to permit writer

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Application Requirements (cont)

• Other CDS components may include
• Source waterbody flow information
• Impingement Mortality and/or Entrainment
  Characterization Study
• Technology and Compliance Assessment Information,
  which may include
• Design and Construction Technology Plan
• Technology Installation and Operation Plan

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TIOP

• The Technology Installation and Operation Plan
  describes how you will install, operate, monitor,
  and maintain the intake technology and adaptive
  management steps to take if the technology does
  not perform as expected.
• TIOP is crucial, because permittee may request
  that TIOP compliance compliance with rule.
• If permittee fails to comply with performance
  standard but meets TIOP, it may request
  site-specific alternative requirements.

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Application Requirements (contd)

• Restoration Plan (if appropriate)
• Information to Support Site-specific
  Determination of BTA, including
• Comprehensive Cost Evaluation Study
• Valuation of Monetized Benefits of Reducing
  (IME) (cost-benefit test only)
• Site-specific Technology Plan
• Verification Monitoring Plan (including proposal
  for identifying moribund fish)

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When Must You Comply?

• Submit the information with the next permit
  application
• If your permit expires lt 4 years after
  publication, you may ask to submit the
  information up to 3 ½ years after publication of
  the rule in the Federal Register

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Permit Renewals After the First

• In permit terms after the first, you may ask that
  compliance and restoration be based on compliance
  with the Technology Installation and Operation
  Plan and Restoration Plan
• One year before permit expiration, if you are in
  compliance with your TIOP and/or performance
  standards, you may request reduced data
  requirements for permit renewal.
• Permit writer may change requirements at each
  permit renewal

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Cooling Ponds

• EPA does not intend to change the regulatory
  status of cooling ponds
• Cooling ponds are waters of the U.S. if they
  meet the definition

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State-Approved Alternatives and Reserve State
Authority

• State may have functionally equivalent program
• Must produce results comparable to EPAs
  performance standards
• Permit writer may establish more stringent
  requirements if EPAs rule would not meet the
  requirements of state law or other federal law

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Trading

• State may adopt trading programs
• Must be within the same watershed
• May trade fish for fish but not pollutants for
  fish

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Nuclear Safety

• If the EPA rule would conflict with an NRC safety
  requirement, you can have site-specific
  requirements