1. Clean Water Act Regulations affecting Electric Utilities
Julie Hewitt
US EPA, Office of Water
October 22, 2010
BPC/NARUC/NESCAUM Workshop

2. Two CWA Rules in Development
Steam Electric Effluent Limitations Guideline (ELG)
Revision of 1982 rule
§316(b) Cooling Water Intake Structures (CWIS) Regulation for Existing Facilities
Rule responding to court decisions

3. Steam Electric ELG
Steam electric category is a subset of all electric generating activities
Includes fossil (coal, oil, gas) and nuclear-fueled power plants, but not fuels such as biomass, tires, etc.
Detailed review of steam electric ELG completed in 2009
Focus on coal-fired plants: 500 plants (700 are nuclear, oil and gas)
Most toxic pollutants are released by flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater & ash ponds

4. Coal combustion wastewater
Current ELGs regulate suspended solids and oil & grease from ash ponds & FGD discharges
Unregulated pollutants present in ash ponds, FGD wastewater, & landfill leachate
Metals
Mercury, selenium & arsenic are of most concern
Bioaccumulative
Nutrients, especially nitrogen (nitrates, ammonia)
Total dissolved solids, chlorides
Simplified Diagram of Selected Wastes at a Coal-fired Power Plant

5. Schedule for SE ELG
Survey to collect technical and financial information for analysis is underway
Agency intends to issue proposed regulation in mid-2012
Rule will have effective date 60 days after publication
Dischargers must have NPDES permit
NPDES permits are for 5 years
Compliance likely will have to occur by next permit renewal cycle

6. §316(b) CWIS Regulation Original rule issued in 2004
Portions remanded to EPA by 2nd Circuit
Portions upheld by Supreme Court in Entergy decision
1,260 existing facilities collectively withdraw 226 billion gallons of water per day
Main environmental impacts
Impingement and entrainment
Thermal discharges may also be significant for some waters

7. Cooling Water Basics
Fixed Bar Racks
Traveling Screens
Larger fish unable to swim away are impinged against the screen and usually die.
Smaller organisms that pass through the screens are entrained in the cooling system and also die.
Once through cooling uses water only once as it passes through a condenser to absorb heat and is then discharged.
Closed-cycle cooling reuses water by recycling it through recirculating systems or towers. 7

8. Schedule for §316(b) Rule
Also effected through NPDES permits and 5 year cycle
Agency’s intent is to issue final rule by July 2012