Coastal Power Plants

July 9, 2004, the United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), under a consent decree, published the revised, Phase II Rule, aimed to minimize the environmental impacts from impingement and entrainment from existing coastal power plants cooling water intake structure (CWIS). Further, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) recently reclassified five (5) of the Los Angeles region nine (9) coastal power plants from ocean discharge to discharge into enclosed bays and estuaries (under the CTR and the SIP).

As a decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Riverkeeper v. EPA, precludes USEPA from applying the Phase II rule unless and until USEPA takes further action. On July 9, 2007, in the Federal Register, the USEPA took a final action to suspend federal Phase II 316(b) requirements.

This website contains current and historic data, information, and other relevant regulatory documents, including but not limited to, NPDES permit renewal/modification applications, 316(b) compliance work plans, technical studies and reports