06-096-526 Me. Code R. § 8

Current through 2024-51, December 18, 2024

Section 096-526-8 - Application Requirements for New Facilities [See 40 CFR Section 125.86]

(1) The Owner or Operator of a new facility must submit to the Department a statement that the Owner or Operator intends to comply with either:

(a) The Track I requirements for new facilities that withdraw equal to or greater than 10 MGD in section 6.B;

(b) The Track I requirements for new facilities that withdraw greater than 2 MGD and less than 10 MGD in section 6.C; or

(c) The requirements for Track II in section 6.D.

(2) The Owner or Operator must also submit the application information required by section 18 and the information required in either paragraph B of this section for Track I or paragraph C of this section for Track II when the Owner or Operator applies for a new or reissued MEPDES permit in accordance with Chapter 521.

B.Track I application requirements. To demonstrate compliance with Track I requirements in section 6.B or C, the Owner or Operator must collect and submit to the Department the information in paragraphs B(1) through (4) of this section.

(1)Flow reduction information. If the Owner or Operator must comply with the flow reduction requirements in section 6.B(1), the Owner or Operator must submit the following information to the Department to demonstrate that the Owner or Operator has reduced the flow to a level commensurate with that which can be attained by a closed-cycle recirculating system:

(a) A narrative description of the system that has been designed to reduce the intake flow to a level commensurate with that which can be attained by a closed-cycle recirculating system and any engineering calculations, including documentation demonstrating that the make-up and blowdown flows have been minimized; and

(b) If the flow reduction requirement is met entirely, or in part, by reusing or recycling water withdrawn for cooling purposes in subsequent industrial processes, the Owner or Operator must provide documentation that the amount of cooling water that is not reused or recycled has been minimized.

(2)Velocity information. The Owner or Operator must submit the following information to the Department to demonstrate that the Owner or Operator is complying with the requirement to meet a maximum through-screen design intake velocity of no more than 0.5 ft/s at each cooling water intake structure as required in section 6.B(2) and C(1):

(a) A narrative description of the design, structure, equipment, and operation used to meet the velocity requirement; and

(b) Design calculations showing that the velocity requirement will be met at minimum ambient source water surface elevations (based on best professional judgment using available hydrological data) and maximum head loss across the screens or other device.

(3)Source water body flow information. The Owner or Operator must submit to the Department the following information to demonstrate that the cooling water intake structure meets the flow requirements in section 6.B(3) or C(2).

(a) If the cooling water intake structure is located in a freshwater river or stream, the Owner or Operator must provide the annual mean flow and any supporting documentation and engineering calculations to show that the cooling water intake structure meets the flow requirements;

(b) If the cooling water intake structure is located in an estuary or tidal river, the Owner or Operator must provide the mean low water tidal excursion distance and any supporting documentation and engineering calculations to show that the cooling water intake structure facility meets the flow requirements; and

(c) If the cooling water intake structure is located in a lake or reservoir, the Owner or Operator must provide a narrative description of the water body thermal stratification, and any supporting documentation and engineering calculations to show that the natural thermal stratification and turnover pattern will not be disrupted by the total design intake flow. In cases where the disruption is determined to be beneficial to the management of fisheries for fish and shellfish, the Owner or Operator must provide supporting documentation and include a written concurrence from any fisheries management agency(ies) with responsibility for fisheries potentially affected by the cooling water intake structure(s).

(4)Design and Construction Technology Plan. To comply with section 6.B(4) and (5), or C(3) and (4), the Owner or Operator must submit to the Department the following information in a Design and Construction Technology Plan:

(a) Information to demonstrate whether or not the Owner or Operator meets the criteria in section 6 paragraphs B(4) and B(5), or C(3) and C(4);

(b) Delineation of the hydraulic zone of influence for the cooling water intake structure;

(c) The Owner or Operator of a new facility required to install design and construction technologies and/or operational measures must develop a plan that explains the technologies and measures selected; this plan shall be based on information collected for the Source Water Biological Baseline Characterization required by section 18. Examples of appropriate technologies include, but are not limited to, wedgewire screens, fine mesh screens, fish handling and return systems, barrier nets, aquatic filter barrier systems, etc. Examples of appropriate operational measures include, but are not limited to, seasonal shutdowns or reductions in flow, and continuous operations of screens, etc. The plan must contain the following information:

(i) A narrative description of the design and operation of the design and construction technologies, including fish-handling and return systems, that the Owner or Operator will use to maximize the survival of those species expected to be most susceptible to impingement. Provide species-specific information that demonstrates the efficacy of the technology;

(ii) A narrative description of the design and operation of the design and construction technologies that the Owner or Operator will use to minimize entrainment of those species expected to be the most susceptible to entrainment. Provide species-specific information that demonstrates the efficacy of the technology; and

(iii) Design calculations, drawings, and estimates to support the descriptions provided in paragraphs B(4)(c)(i) and (ii) of this section.

C.Application requirements for Track II. If the Owner or Operator has chosen to comply with the requirements of Track II in section 6.D, the Owner or Operator must collect and submit the following information:

(1)Source water body flow information. The Owner or Operator must submit to the Department the following information to demonstrate that the cooling water intake structure meets the source water body requirements in section 6.D(2):

(c) If the cooling water intake structure is located in a lake or reservoir, the Owner or Operator must provide a narrative description of the water body thermal stratification, and any supporting documentation and engineering calculations to show that the natural thermal stratification and thermal or turnover pattern will not be disrupted by the total design intake flow. In cases where the disruption is determined to be beneficial to the management of fisheries for fish and shellfish, the Owner or Operator must provide supporting documentation and include a written concurrence from any fisheries management agency(ies) with responsibility for fisheries potentially affected by the cooling water intake structure(s).

(2)Track II Comprehensive Demonstration Study. The Owner or Operator must perform and submit the results of a Comprehensive Demonstration Study (Study). This information is required to characterize the source water baseline in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure(s), characterize operation of the cooling water intake(s), and to confirm that the technology(ies) proposed and/or implemented at the cooling water intake structure reduce the impacts to fish and shellfish to levels comparable to those the Owner or Operator would achieve were the Owner or Operator to implement the requirements in section 6.B(1) and (2) of Track I. To meet the "comparable level" requirement, the Owner or Operator must demonstrate that:

(a) The Owner or Operator has reduced both impingement mortality and entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish to 90 percent or greater of the reduction that would be achieved through section 6.B(1) and (2); or

(b) [Reserved]

(c) The Owner or Operator must develop and submit a plan to the Department containing a proposal for how information will be collected to support the Study. The plan must include:

(i) A description of the proposed and/or implemented technology(ies) to be evaluated in the Study;

(ii) A list and description of any historical studies characterizing the physical and biological conditions in the vicinity of the proposed or actual intakes and their relevancy to the proposed Study. If the Owner or Operator proposes to rely on existing source water body data, it must be no more than 5 years old, the Owner or Operator must demonstrate that the existing data are sufficient to develop a scientifically valid estimate of potential impingement and entrainment impacts, and the Owner or Operator must provide documentation showing that the data were collected using appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures;

(iii) Any public participation or consultation with Federal or State agencies undertaken in developing the plan; and

(iv) A sampling plan for data that will be collected using actual field studies in the source water body. The sampling plan must document all methods and quality assurance procedures for sampling and data analysis. The sampling and data analysis methods the Owner or Operator proposes must be appropriate for a quantitative survey and based on consideration of methods used in other studies performed in the source water body. The sampling plan must include a description of the study area (including the area of influence of the cooling water intake structure and at least 100 meters beyond); taxonomic identification of the sampled or evaluated biological assemblages (including all life stages of fish and shellfish); and sampling and data analysis methods; and

(d) The Owner or Operator must submit documentation of the results of the Study to the Department. Documentation of the results of the Study must include:

(i)Source Water Biological Study. The Source Water Biological Study must include:

(1) A taxonomic identification and characterization of aquatic biological resources including: a summary of historical and contemporary aquatic biological resources; determination and description of the target populations of concern (those species of fish and shellfish and all life stages that are most susceptible to impingement and entrainment); and a description of the abundance and temporal/spatial characterization of the target populations based on the collection of multiple years of data to capture the seasonal and daily activities (e.g., spawning, feeding, and water column migration) of all life stages of fish and shellfish found in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure;

(2) An identification of all threatened or endangered species that might be susceptible to impingement and entrainment by the proposed cooling water intake structure(s); and

(3) A description of additional chemical, water quality, and other anthropogenic stresses on the source water body.

(ii)Evaluation of potential cooling water intake structure effects. This evaluation will include:

(1) Calculations of the reduction in impingement mortality and entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish that would need to be achieved by the technologies the Owner or Operator has selected to implement to meet requirements under Track II. To do this, the Owner or Operator must determine the reduction in impingement mortality and entrainment that would be achieved by implementing the requirements of section 6.B(1) and (2) of Track I at the site.

(2) An engineering estimate of efficacy for the proposed and/or implemented technologies used to minimize impingement mortality and entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish and maximize survival of impinged life stages of fish and shellfish. The Owner or Operator must demonstrate that the technologies reduce impingement mortality and entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish to a comparable level to that which the Owner or Operator would achieve were the Owner or Operator to implement the requirements in section 6.B(1) and (2) of Track I. The efficacy projection must include a site-specific evaluation of the suitability of the proposed and/or implemented technology(ies) for reducing impingement mortality and entrainment based on the results of the Source Water Biological Study in paragraph C(2)(d)(i) of this section. Efficacy estimates may be determined based on case studies that have been conducted in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure and/or site-specific technology prototype studies.

(iii) [Reserved]

(iv)Verification monitoring plan. The Owner or Operator must include in the Study a plan to conduct, at a minimum, two years of monitoring to verify the full-scale performance of the proposed or implemented technologies and/or operational measures. Verification monitoring must begin at the start of operations of the cooling water intake structure and continue for a sufficient period of time to demonstrate that the facility is reducing the level of impingement and entrainment to the level documented in paragraph C(2)(d)(ii) of this section. The plan must describe the frequency of monitoring and the parameters to be monitored. The Department will use the verification monitoring to confirm that the Owner or Operator is meeting the level of impingement mortality and entrainment reduction required in section 6.D, and that the operation of the technology has been optimized.

06-096 C.M.R. ch. 526, § 8