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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, D.C.) on Monday issued its long-awaited draft rule on industrial cooling water intake systems under section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. Industrial groups said the rule went too far, while environmental groups said the new rule would not adequately protect fish, crustaceans and other aquatic life.
The rule could cost electric utilities and manufacturers about $384 million annually, according to news reports confirmed by the EPA. But the agency did say the new initiative would save about 615 million fish and shellfish each year.
Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the EPA to ensure that the location, design, construction and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The new draft rule seeks to reduce death and injury to aquatic life caused by cooling water systems used at power plants and manufacturers. EPA issued the draft regulation pursuant to a settlement with environmental organizations.
The new rule has three parts:
The EPA will take public comments on the draft rule for 90 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The rule is scheduled to be finalized July 27, 2012.
About 2.1 billion fish, crabs, and shrimp are killed annually by industrial and power-plant cooling-water intake systems, according to an EPA estimate. The agency said it was not able to estimate the numbers of other aquatic organisms, besides fish, crabs, and shrimp, that are killed each year by cooling water intake systems.
On Monday, the EPA said that its draft CWA 316(b) proposal "would establish a common sense framework, putting a premium on public input and flexibility." The agency added that the various cooling system options industry may have to install have been in use for several decades and already have been implemented at a large number of facilities.
In a statement, Nancy Stoner, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water, said: "The public's comments will be instrumental in shaping safeguards for aquatic life and to build a commonsense path forward. The input we receive will make certain that we end up with a flexible and effective rule to protect the health of our waters and ecosystems."
Sources at industrial groups were less sanguine. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) (Washington, D.C.) noted that the proposal could force 62 of the nation's 104 nuclear power plants to turn their once-through cooling systems into closed-loop systems.
In a statement, NEI President and Chief Executive Marvin Fertel said: "The EPA proposed rule is very detailed and will be studied closely. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to environmental issues isn't in keeping with sound scientific analysis and will have severe and unnecessary regional economic impacts. No two power plant sites are the same, and land available at many of these plant sites is unsuitable to building cooling towers.
"A blanket requirement to force the installation of cooling towers is unnecessary and will put regional economies and tens of thousands of jobs at risk by potentially forcing scores of power plants to shut down over the next decade," Fertel added. He said that the requirement also could affect the 3,000 megawatts (MW) of uprates that nuclear generators plan to implement between now and 2014.
Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) told the Bloomberg news service that it could have to spend $1.2 billion to build new cooling towers at its two-unit, 2,045-MW Indian Point nuclear complex, located about 30 miles north of Manhattan.
Greenwire quoted Reed Super, an attorney representing Riverkeeper, as saying: "EPA has the ability to set national standards that would protect the environment with readily available technology but has instead abdicated the responsibility to state agencies who are simply not equipped to make these decisions alone. The rule does next to nothing." Representatives from the Natural Resources Defense Council expressed similar doubts about having states implement and oversee the new regulation.
The EPA is obligated to estimate the potential costs and benefits to society of significant rulemakings. As part of its effort to gather public input on this draft rule, in a January 21, 2011, notice in the Federal Register, the EPA proposed conducting a "willingness to pay" survey to better understand what people would be willing to pay to lower the deaths and injuries to aquatic life from power plants and manufacturing facilities. In the notice, the EPA said it wanted to survey about 12,000 people for their willingness to pay for changes related to the reduction of fish losses at cooling water intake systems.
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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
The rule could cost electric utilities and manufacturers about $384 million annually, according to news reports confirmed by the EPA. But the agency did say the new initiative would save about 615 million fish and shellfish each year.
Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the EPA to ensure that the location, design, construction and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The new draft rule seeks to reduce death and injury to aquatic life caused by cooling water systems used at power plants and manufacturers. EPA issued the draft regulation pursuant to a settlement with environmental organizations.
The new rule has three parts:
- First, existing facilities that draw at least 25% of their water from an adjacent body of water used exclusively for cooling purposes and have a design intake flow of greater than 2 million gallons per day would be subject to an upper limit on how many fish can be killed by being pinned against intake screens or other parts at the facility. The facility would determine which technology would be best suited to meeting this limit. Alternately, the facility could reduce the velocity at which its cooling system takes in water, which could allow most of the fish to swim away from the intake system.
- Second, existing facilities that withdraw very large amounts of water--at least 125 million gallons per day--would be required to conduct studies to help their permitting authorities determine whether and what site-specific controls, if any, would be required to reduce the number of aquatic organisms that are sucked into cooling water systems. This decision process would include public input.
- Third, new units that add electrical generation capacity at an existing facility would be required to add technology that is equivalent to closed-cycle cooling, which continually recycles and cools the water so that minimal water needs to be withdrawn from an adjacent body of water. This can be done by incorporating a closed-cycle system into the design of the new unit, or by making other design changes equivalent to the reductions associated with closed-cycle cooling. Closed-cycle cooling systems--often referred to as cooling towers or wet cooling--are the most effective at reducing entrainment.
The EPA will take public comments on the draft rule for 90 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The rule is scheduled to be finalized July 27, 2012.
About 2.1 billion fish, crabs, and shrimp are killed annually by industrial and power-plant cooling-water intake systems, according to an EPA estimate. The agency said it was not able to estimate the numbers of other aquatic organisms, besides fish, crabs, and shrimp, that are killed each year by cooling water intake systems.
On Monday, the EPA said that its draft CWA 316(b) proposal "would establish a common sense framework, putting a premium on public input and flexibility." The agency added that the various cooling system options industry may have to install have been in use for several decades and already have been implemented at a large number of facilities.
In a statement, Nancy Stoner, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water, said: "The public's comments will be instrumental in shaping safeguards for aquatic life and to build a commonsense path forward. The input we receive will make certain that we end up with a flexible and effective rule to protect the health of our waters and ecosystems."
Sources at industrial groups were less sanguine. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) (Washington, D.C.) noted that the proposal could force 62 of the nation's 104 nuclear power plants to turn their once-through cooling systems into closed-loop systems.
In a statement, NEI President and Chief Executive Marvin Fertel said: "The EPA proposed rule is very detailed and will be studied closely. However, a one-size-fits-all approach to environmental issues isn't in keeping with sound scientific analysis and will have severe and unnecessary regional economic impacts. No two power plant sites are the same, and land available at many of these plant sites is unsuitable to building cooling towers.
"A blanket requirement to force the installation of cooling towers is unnecessary and will put regional economies and tens of thousands of jobs at risk by potentially forcing scores of power plants to shut down over the next decade," Fertel added. He said that the requirement also could affect the 3,000 megawatts (MW) of uprates that nuclear generators plan to implement between now and 2014.
Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) told the Bloomberg news service that it could have to spend $1.2 billion to build new cooling towers at its two-unit, 2,045-MW Indian Point nuclear complex, located about 30 miles north of Manhattan.
Greenwire quoted Reed Super, an attorney representing Riverkeeper, as saying: "EPA has the ability to set national standards that would protect the environment with readily available technology but has instead abdicated the responsibility to state agencies who are simply not equipped to make these decisions alone. The rule does next to nothing." Representatives from the Natural Resources Defense Council expressed similar doubts about having states implement and oversee the new regulation.
The EPA is obligated to estimate the potential costs and benefits to society of significant rulemakings. As part of its effort to gather public input on this draft rule, in a January 21, 2011, notice in the Federal Register, the EPA proposed conducting a "willingness to pay" survey to better understand what people would be willing to pay to lower the deaths and injuries to aquatic life from power plants and manufacturing facilities. In the notice, the EPA said it wanted to survey about 12,000 people for their willingness to pay for changes related to the reduction of fish losses at cooling water intake systems.
View Plant Profile - 1008426 1515351
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
