Public Meetings

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Technical Experts Meeting Fact Sheet

EPA 821-F-01-003; April 2001

On May 23, 2001, the EPA will conduct a public meeting of invited technical experts to discuss specific technical issues associated with the development of regulations for cooling water intake structures.
The purpose of this meeting is to elicit individual comments from the technical experts regarding the EPA's preliminary data on cooling water intake structure technologies in place at existing facilities and the costs associated with their use to reduce the impact of cooling water intake structures on aquatic organisms.
The public is invited to attend and hear the discussions and will have an opportunity to comment and ask questions at the end of the meeting.

EPA is developing rules to regulate cooling water intake structures at existing facilities that can kill or injure aquatic organisms that are either pinned against intake screens or carried into the cooling water systems of power plants and large factories.
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 impact.
EPA is developing these regulations 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). The court-order requires: (1) final action on the rule affecting new facilities by November 9, 2001; (2) a proposal on existing utilities and high-volume non-utility power producers by February 28, 2002, with a final action by August 28, 2003; and (3) a proposal for existing facilities that employ a cooling water intake structure, are not covered by the any of the above rules and whose intake flow levels exceed a minimum threshold still to be determined, by June 15, 2003, with a final action by December 15, 2004.

This public meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 from 9:00a.m. to 4:30p.m, at the Crystal City Marriott, 1999 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria, Virginia.

Contact Claudio H. Ternieden (Ternieden.Claudio@epa.gov), Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, Engineering and Analysis Division, Cooling Water Intake Task Force, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20460; telephone number (202) 260-6026. For any updates on the issues that EPA will discuss at the meeting, refer to http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/.