Informal
Notification
for
a
Small
Business
Advocacy
Review
(
SBAR)
Panel
Title
of
Action:
Notice
of
Proposed
Rulemaking
(
NPRM):
Requirements
for
Cooling
Water
Intake
Structures
at
Phase
III
Existing
Facilities
Start
Action
Number:
3444
Tentative
Schedule:
August
2002
Outreach
to
potential
SERs
September
2002
Conference
call
with
potential
SERs
September
2002
Pre­
Panel
meeting
with
SBAR
Panel
October
2002
Begin
SBAR
Panel
December
2002
Complete
SBAR
Panel
Projected
NPRM:
June
15,
2003
(
judicial
date)

Description:

This
rulemaking
will
address
technology­
based
standards
for
cooling
water
intake
structures.
These
standards
will
address
adverse
environmental
impacts
by
reducing
the
impingement
and
entrainment
of
aquatic
organisms.

Section
316(
b)
of
the
Clean
Water
Act
requires
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.
For
many
years
this
provision
has
been
implemented
without
federal
standards
in
place,
on
a
resource­
intensive,
site­
by­
site
basis.
Pursuant
to
a
court­
ordered
consent
decree,
EPA
is
now
developing
national
standards
in
three
phases:
Phase
I
for
new
facilities,
Phase
II
for
existing
electric
generating
plants
that
use
large
amounts
of
cooling
water
(
design
intake
flow
at
least
50
million
gallons
per
day),
and
Phase
III
for
all
other
types
of
facilities
not
covered
by
Phase
I
and
Phase
II
standards.

Phase
III
will
cover
existing
facilities,
for
the
most
part.
In
the
Phase
III
rule,
EPA
will
also
address
new
offshore
and
coastal
oil
and
gas
extraction
facilities,
as
defined
at
40
CFR
435.10
and
40
CFR
435.40.
When
taking
final
action
on
the
Phase
I
rule,
EPA
deferred
regulation
of
these
facilities
due
to
the
unique
engineering,
cost,
and
economic
issues
associated
with
offshore
and
coastal
drilling
rigs,
ships,
and
platforms.

EPA
is
conducting
this
rulemaking
under
the
terms
of
an
Amended
Consent
Decree
in
Riverkeeper,
Inc.
v.
Whitman,
U.
S.
District
Court,
Southern
District
of
New
York,
No.
93­
Civ.
0314
(
AGS).
A
phase
III
regulatory
proposal
must
be
signed
by
June
15,
2003,
and
final
action
must
be
taken
by
December
15,
2004.

Background
on
the
Regulated
Community:

The
rulemaking
will
apply
largely
to
existing
facilities
which
are
not
regulated
under
the
Phase
II
rule.
EPA
anticipates
that
a
majority
of
these
facilities
will
fall
into
the
following
major
categories
of
economic
activity:
electricity
producers
with
design
intake
flows
less
than
50
million
gallons
per
day;
industrial
chemicals;
pulp
&
paper;
primary
metals
(
iron
and
steel,
aluminum);
petroleum
refining.
EPA
conducted
a
questionnaire
survey
of
these
major
industrial
sectors.
Of
the
survey
respondents
(
facilities)
that
might
be
affected
by
the
Phase
III
requirements,
there
were
140
electricity
producers
(
94
utilities
and
46
non­
utilities)
and
288
in
other
economic
sectors.
Based
on
the
survey,
EPA
will
be
able
to
estimate
the
national
population
of
facilities
potentially
affected
by
the
phase
III
rule.

The
survey
respondents
potentially
subject
to
the
Phase
III
rulemaking
include
288
facilities
that
are
not
primarily
electric
generators
and
that
are
engaged
in
economic
activities
like
manufacturing
or
primary
production
("
manufacturers"),
94
utility
electric
generators
("
utilities")
and
46
non­
utility
electric
generators
("
non­
utilities"),
a
total
of
428
facilities.
Of
the
288
manufacturing
facilities,
33
are
owned
by
small
entities.
Of
the
94
utility
plants,
12
are
owned
by
small
entities
and
for
one
the
ownership
has
yet
to
be
determined.
Of
the
46
utility
plants,
1
is
owned
by
a
small
entity
and
for
10
the
ownership
has
yet
to
be
determined.
EPA
is
now
working
diligently
to
determine
the
SBA
size
status
for
all
facilities.

The
Oil
&
Gas
Extraction
category
was
not
represented
in
the
316(
b)
survey.
Information
provided
in
comments
on
the
Phase
I
regulatory
proposal
prompted
EPA
to
consider
this
category
in
its
analyses
for
existing
facilities
(
as
well
as
new
facilities,
see
above).
The
category
contains
a
large
number
of
facilities
and
it
presents
unique
engineering,
cost,
and
economic
issues
associated
with
drilling
rigs,
ships,
and
platforms.
EPA
is
acquiring
current
industry
surveys
and
commercial
databases
that
will
identify
offshore
and
coastal
oil
&
gas
extraction
facilities
in
the
Gulf
of
Alaska,
California,
and
the
Gulf
of
Mexico.
EPA
also
has
experience
with
and
data
for
this
category
obtained
during
the
rulemaking
for
Synthetic
Based
Drilling
Fluids
(
Final
Rule
published
in
January
2001;
see
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
ost/
guide/
sbf/).
At
the
present
time,
based
on
that
experience,
EPA
believes
that
a
great
majority
of
the
owner­
entities
are
large
businesses.

Potential
Small
Entity
Representatives:

In
an
effort
to
locate
potential
small
entity
representatives
(
SERs),
OST
is
consulting
with
industry
associations,
EPA
regional
offices,
permitting
authorities,
and
individuals
who
have
attended
stakeholder
meetings.
OST
expects
that
the
eventual
list
of
SERs
will
be
representative,
to
the
extent
possible,
of
entities
that
may
be
impacted
by
a
phase
III
rule.
The
major
organizations
representing
firms
that
might
be
affected
by
a
phase
III
rule
include:

American
Public
Power
Association
National
Rural
Electric
Cooperative
Association
American
Forest
and
Paper
Association
American
Chemistry
Council
American
Petroleum
Institute
American
Iron
and
Steel
Institute
The
Aluminum
Association
Outreach
Activities:

During
the
development
of
the
proposed
phase
I
and
phase
II
rules
(
1998­
2002),
EPA
conducted
extensive
outreach
activities
to
inform
State
and
local
officials
and
industry
about
the
three
phases
of
316(
b)
rulemaking.

EPA
made
presentations
on
the
section
316(
b)
rulemaking
effort
in
general
at
numerous
professional
and
industry
association
meetings.
EPA
also
conducted
three
public
meetings
in
June
and
September
of
1998
and
May
of
2001.
In
September
1998
and
April
1999,
EPA
also
participated
in
technical
workshops
sponsored
by
the
Electric
Power
Research
Institute
on
issues.
EPA
staff
have
participated
in
other
industry
conferences,
met
on
numerous
occasions
with
industry
representatives
and
with
representatives
of
environmental
groups.,
and
participated
in
roundtables
sponsored
by
the
Small
Business
Administration,
all
on
matters
related
to
316(
b)
rulemaking.

These
outreach
activities,
conducted
during
Phase
I
and
Phase
II
rulemaking,
reached
industry
organizations
and
persons
representing
both
large
and
small
businesses
in
a
wide
range
of
economic
activities.

EPA
will
continue
outreach
activities
for
the
Phase
III
rulemaking
targeted
at
audiences
and
organizations
that
represent
small­
business
interests.

Program
Contact:
John
Fox
Office
of
Science
&
Technology
(
Mail
Code
4303T)
US
Environmental
Protection
Agency
1200
Pennsylvania
Avenue,
NW
Washington,
DC
20460
phone:
202­
566­
1040
fax:
202­
566­
1053
email:
fox.
john@
epa.
gov
