Water Quality Criteria & Effluent Limits

Cooling Water Intake Structures

In 2014, EPA finalized its 316(b) cooling water intake structure rule applicable to manufacturing facilities.  The rule is designed to protect fish and other aquatic species from impingement on screens associated with surface water intake structures and entrainment of species that might pass through screens and into cooling water systems.  The rule is implemented through the NPDES permitting system but may include unfamiliar requirements such as proportional use of cooling water and process water, knowledge of the presence of nearby sensitive species, and identification of species that are caught on intake screens.

NCASI has several resources that can assist mills in navigating these relatively new rules.