EPA Proposes Standards For Cooling Water Intake Structures At Existing Facilities

On March 28, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued proposed regulations under section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act that set standards applicable to cooling water intake structures for the protection of aquatic organisms. The proposed regulations would require existing large power plants and manufacturing facilities that withdraw water from adjacent water bodies exclusively for cooling to limit the number of aquatic organisms that are killed when they are pinned against the facility's intake structure or that are drawn into the facility's cooling system. The section 316(b) standards would be implemented through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued to the covered facilities.