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Cooling Water Intake Structures

Brief description of the federal cooling water intake structure rule and implementation activities.

Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act requires EPA to issue regulations on the design and operation of intake structures, in order to minimize adverse environmental impacts. The goal is to reduce impingement mortality and entrainment of fish and other aquatic organisms at cooling water intake structures (CWISs) used by certain power generation and manufacturing facilities for the withdrawal of cooling water from waters of the United States (WOTUS). EPA published a final regulation to establish Section 316(b) requirements for Phase II (existing) facilities on August 15, 2014 (Final Rule).

316(b) Stakeholder Meeting

TCEQ scheduled a series of stakeholder meetings to discuss and obtain feedback on TCEQ guidelines for implementing Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act and future revisions to application worksheets. The most recent meeting was Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at the TCEQ offices in Austin, Texas. Any future meetings will be announced when scheduled.

Final Draft Versions of the CWIS Application Worksheets and Instructions*

Date	Notification	Documents(PDF/WORD)	Organization
3/24/2017	Notification	Instructions for CWIS Worksheets 11.0-11.3 CWIS Worksheets 11.0-11.3 Instructions for Technical Report Item 12 Technical Report Item 12	TCEQ

Date

Notification

Documents(PDF/WORD)

Organization

3/24/2017

application/pdf Notification Exit the TCEQ Adobe Acrobat PDF Document

application/pdf Instructions for CWIS Worksheets 11.0-11.3 Exit the TCEQ Adobe Acrobat PDF Document
CWIS Worksheets 11.0-11.3

application/pdf Instructions for Technical Report Item 12 Exit the TCEQ Adobe Acrobat PDF Document
Technical Report Item 12

TCEQ

*Please download the Industrial Wastewater Technical Report and Completing the Industrial Wastewater Permit Applications (instructions), dated May 05, 2022, to obtain the finalized CWIS Application Worksheets and Instructions.

316(b) Stakeholder Meetings

Date	Notification /Meeting Notes	Agenda /Attendance	Handouts (PDF/WORD)	Handouts (PPT)	Organization
December 14, 2016	Notification Meeting Notes	Agenda	Application Requirements Flowchart Application Requirements Handout POC Handout TCEQ CWIS Worksheet Instructions TCEQ CWIS Worksheet	-	TCEQ
November 03, 2016	Notification Meeting Notes	Agenda	Draft of 316b webpage Final Version Visio-WOTUS Flowchart Visio-POC Flowchart Visio-Application Requirements Flowchart Visio-316b Applicability Flowchart	-	TCEQ
April 14, 2016	Notification Meeting Notes	Agenda	Worksheet 11.0 Worksheet 11.1 Worksheet 11.2	-	TCEQ
September 10, 2015	Notification Meeting Notes	Agenda	CWIS Presentation Draft Outline	CWIS Presentation	TCEQ