Chapter NR 111

Subchapter II — Existing Facilities

NR 111.10   Requirement to comply with BTA standards.

NR 111.11   Timing of BTA determinations.

NR 111.12   Impingement mortality BTA standards.

NR 111.13   Entrainment BTA standards.

NR 111.14   Monitoring requirements.

NR 111.15   Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

NR 111.16   Protection of threatened and endangered species and fragile species.

Subchapter III — New Facilities

NR 111.20   Requirement to comply with performance standards.

NR 111.21   Performance standards.

NR 111.22   Monitoring requirements.

NR 111.23   Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

NR 111.24   Review of design and construction technologies to minimize impingement mortality and entrainment.

NR 111.25   Timing.

Subchapter IV — New Units at Existing Facilities

NR 111.30   Requirement to comply with BTA standards.

NR 111.31   BTA standards.

NR 111.32   Monitoring requirements.

Subchapter V — Application Procedures

NR 111.40   Application requirements.

NR 111.41   Application materials.

NR 111.42   General application process provisions.

subch. I of ch. NR 111 Subchapter I — General

NR 111.01 NR 111.01 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish requirements that apply to cooling water intake structures, including requirements that apply to location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures at new and existing facilities. The chapter includes standards for minimizing adverse environmental impact associated with the use of cooling water intake structures and required procedures, including permit application requirements and information submission requirements, for establishing the appropriate technology requirements at certain specified facilities, and monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements to demonstrate compliance. In combination, these components represent the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact associated with the use of cooling water intake structures. These requirements are established and implemented in Wisconsin pollutant discharge elimination system permits issued under s. 283.31 (6), Stats.

NR 111.01 Note Note: This regulation does not authorize take, as defined by the federal endangered species act, 16 USC 1532 (19), or Wisconsin’s endangered species law, s. 29.604, Stats. The U.S. fish and wildlife service and the state of Wisconsin have determined that any impingement, including entrapment or entrainment of federally- or state-listed species constitutes take. Such take of federally-listed species may be authorized pursuant to the conditions of a permit issued under 16 USC 1539 (a) or where consistent with an incidental take statement contained in a biological opinion pursuant to 16 USC 1536 (o). Such take of state-listed species may be authorized pursuant to the conditions of a permit or authorization issued under s. 29.604 (6m) or (6r), Stats.

NR 111.01 Note Note: A permittee subject to this rule shall still comply with all state and federal threatened and endangered species laws for all organisms that could be adversely impacted by the permittee’s cooling water intake structures, including amphibians, reptiles, and other aquatic invertebrates.

NR 111.01 History History: CR 19-105: cr. Register May 2020 No. 773, eff. 6-1-20.

NR 111.02 NR 111.02 Applicability.

NR 111.02(1) (1) In this section:

NR 111.02(1)(a) (a) “Greenfield facility” means a facility that is constructed at a site at which no other source is located, or that totally replaces the process or production equipment at an existing facility, as specified in 40 CFR 122.29 (b) (1) (i) and (ii).

NR 111.02(1)(b) (b) “Stand-alone facility” means a new, separate facility that is constructed on property where an existing facility is located and whose processes are substantially independent of the existing facility at the same site, as specified in 40 CFR 122.29 (b) (1) (iii).

NR 111.02(2) (2) This chapter applies to a facility that meets all of the following conditions:

NR 111.02(2)(a) (a) The facility is a point source as defined in s. 283.01 (12), Stats.

NR 111.02(2)(b) (b) The facility uses or proposes to use one or more cooling water intake structures with a cumulative design intake flow greater than 2 million gallons per day.

NR 111.02(2)(c) (c) The facility has or proposes to have at least one cooling water intake structure and uses or proposes to use at least 25 percent of the total water withdrawn on a whole-facility basis exclusively for cooling purposes as specified in sub. (6).

NR 111.02(3) (3) For purposes of this chapter, a facility may be classified as either an existing facility or a new facility, in accordance with all of the following:

NR 111.02(3)(a) (a) A facility shall be classified as an existing facility if construction commenced on the facility on or before January 17, 2002. Any modification of the facility or any addition of a unit at the facility does not change its classification as an existing facility.

NR 111.02(3)(b) (b)

NR 111.02(3)(b)1. 1. A facility shall be classified as a new facility if all of the following apply:

NR 111.02(3)(b)1.a. a. The facility consists of any building, structure, facility, or installation that meets the definition and criteria of a “new source” or “new discharger” under 40 CFR 122.2 and 122.29 (b) (1), (2), and (4).

NR 111.02(3)(b)1.b. b. The facility is either a greenfield facility or stand-alone facility.

NR 111.02(3)(b)1.c. c. Construction commenced on the facility after January 17, 2002.

NR 111.02(3)(b)1.d. d. The facility uses either a newly constructed cooling water intake structure, or an existing cooling water intake structure whose design capacity is increased to accommodate the intake of additional cooling water.

NR 111.02(3)(b)2. 2. New units that are added to a facility for the purposes of the same general industrial operation, such as new peaking units at an electrical generating station, shall not be considered new facilities.

NR 111.02(3)(b)3. 3. A facility that has been built adjacent to a facility that qualifies as an existing facility under par. (a) is a new facility if it otherwise meets the standards for a new facility under this paragraph, while the original facility remains as an existing facility.

NR 111.02(3)(c) (c) A facility cannot be both an existing facility and a new facility.

NR 111.02(4) (4) Use of a cooling water intake structure includes obtaining cooling water by any contract or arrangement with one or more independent suppliers of cooling water if the supplier withdraws water from surface waters of the state. An owner or operator of an existing facility may not circumvent these requirements by creating special arrangements to receive cooling water from an entity that is not itself a facility subject to this chapter.

NR 111.02(5) (5) Obtaining cooling water from a public water system, using reclaimed water from wastewater treatment facilities or desalination plants, or recycling treated process wastewater effluent as cooling water does not constitute use of a cooling water intake structure for the purposes of this chapter.

NR 111.02(6) (6) Whether the amount of water used exclusively for cooling at a given facility exceeds the 25 percent threshold specified in sub. (2) (c) shall be determined as follows:

NR 111.02(6)(a) (a) A new facility exceeds the 25 percent cooling water threshold if, based on the new facility’s design, any monthly average over a year for the percentage of cooling water withdrawn is expected to equal or exceed 25 percent of the total water withdrawn.

NR 111.02(6)(b) (b) An existing facility or a new unit at an existing facility exceeds the 25 percent cooling water threshold if, on an actual intake flow basis as defined in s. NR 111.03 (1), at least 25 percent of water withdrawn is used for cooling purposes.

NR 111.02(7) (7) A facility with an intake structure not subject to the requirements of this chapter as provided in sub. (2) shall meet requirements established by the department on a case-by-case, best professional judgment basis, as specified in s. 283.31, Stats.

NR 111.02 History History: CR 19-105: cr. Register May 2020 No. 773, eff. 6-1-20.

NR 111.03 NR 111.03 Definitions. In this chapter:

NR 111.03(1) (1) “Actual intake flow,” or “AIF,” means the average volume of water withdrawn on an annual basis by the cooling water intake structures over the past 3 years. After October 14, 2019, “actual intake flow” means the average volume of water withdrawn on an annual basis by the cooling water intake structures over the previous 5 years. AIF is measured at a location within the cooling water intake structure that the department deems appropriate. The calculation of AIF includes days of zero flow. AIF does not include flows associated with emergency and fire suppression capacity.

NR 111.03(2) (2) “All life stages of fish and shellfish” means eggs, larvae, juveniles, and adults. “All life stages of fish and shellfish” does not include nuisance species.

NR 111.03(3) (3) “Annual mean flow” means the average of daily flows over a calendar year, calculated using historical data up to 10 years when available.

NR 111.03(4) (4) “BTA” means best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact associated with a cooling water intake structure.

NR 111.03(5) (5) 

NR 111.03(5)(a) (a) At existing facilities, “closed-cycle recirculating system” means a system designed and properly operated, using minimized make-up and blowdown flows withdrawn from a surface water of the state to support contact or non-contact cooling uses within a facility, or a system designed to include certain impoundments, that operates by passing cooling water through a condenser and other components of the cooling system and reuses the water for cooling multiple times. “Closed-cycle recirculating system” includes all of the following:

NR 111.03(5)(a)1. 1. A facility with wet, dry, or hybrid cooling towers, a system of impoundments that are not waters of the state, or any combination thereof. A properly operated and maintained closed-cycle recirculating system withdraws new source water, or make-up water, only to replenish losses that have occurred due to blowdown, drift, and evaporation. If surface waters of the state are withdrawn for the purposes of replenishing losses to a closed-cycle recirculating system other than those due to blowdown, drift, and evaporation from the cooling system, the department may determine that a cooling system is a closed-cycle recirculating system if the facility demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that make-up water withdrawal attributed specifically to the cooling portion of the cooling system has been minimized.

NR 111.03(5)(a)2. 2. A system with impoundments of waters of the state where the impoundment was constructed prior to October 14, 2014 and created for the purpose of serving as part of the cooling water system as documented in the project purpose statement for any required federal clean water act section 404 permit obtained to construct the impoundment. In the case of an impoundment whose construction pre-dated the clean water act requirement to obtain a section 404 permit, documentation of the project’s purpose shall be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the department. This documentation may be some other license or permit obtained to lawfully construct the impoundment for the purposes of a cooling water system or other such evidence as the department finds necessary. For impoundments constructed in uplands or not in waters of the state, no documentation of a section 404 or other permit is required.

NR 111.03(5)(b) (b) At new facilities, “closed-cycle recirculating system” means a system described as follows:

NR 111.03(5)(b)1. 1. It is designed, using minimized makeup and blowdown flows, to withdraw water from a natural or other water source to support contact cooling uses, noncontact cooling uses, or both within a facility.

NR 111.03(5)(b)2. 2. The water is usually sent to a cooling canal or channel, lake, pond, or tower to allow waste heat to be dissipated to the atmosphere and then is returned to the system.

NR 111.03(5)(b)3. 3. Waste heat may be diverted to other process operations.

NR 111.03(5)(b)4. 4. New source water, or make-up water, is added to the system to replenish losses that have occurred due to blowdown, drift, and evaporation.

NR 111.03(6) (6) “Cooling water” means water used for contact or non-contact cooling, including water used for equipment cooling, evaporative cooling tower make-up, and dilution of effluent heat content. Cooling water is water intended to absorb waste heat rejected from the process or processes used, or from auxiliary operations on the facility’s premises. For the purposes of calculating the percentage of a facility’s intake flow that is used for cooling purposes as defined in s. NR 111.02 (6), water obtained from a public water system, reclaimed water from a wastewater treatment facility, treated effluent from a manufacturing facility, or cooling water that is used in a manufacturing process either before or after it is used for cooling is not considered “cooling water.”

NR 111.03(7) (7) “Cooling water intake structure” means the total physical structure and any associated constructed waterways used to withdraw cooling water from surface waters of the state. The cooling water intake structure extends from the point at which water is withdrawn from surface waters of the state up to, and including, the intake pumps.

NR 111.03(8) (8) “Department” means the department of natural resources.

NR 111.03(9) (9) 

NR 111.03(9)(a) (a) At an existing facility, “design intake flow” or “DIF” means the value assigned during the cooling water intake structure design to the maximum instantaneous rate of flow of water the cooling water intake system is capable of withdrawing from a source waterbody. The facility’s DIF may be adjusted to reflect permanent changes to the maximum capabilities of the cooling water intake system to withdraw cooling water, including pumps permanently removed from service, flow limit devices, and physical limitations of the piping. “Design intake flow” or “DIF” does not include values associated with emergency and fire suppression capacity or redundant pumps, such as back-up pumps.

NR 111.03(9)(b) (b) At a new facility, “design intake flow” or ”DIF” means the value assigned during the facility’s design to the total volume of water withdrawn from a source waterbody over a specific time period.

NR 111.03(10) (10) “Design intake velocity” means the value assigned during the design of a cooling water intake structure to the average speed at which intake water passes through the open area of the intake screen, inlet, or other device against which organisms might be impinged or through which they might be entrained. This definition applies only to intakes at new facilities.

NR 111.03 Note Note: See sub. (26) for the definition of “maximum design intake velocity”.

NR 111.03(11) (11) “Entrainable organisms” means any life stages of fish and shellfish that are potentially subject to entrainment but does not include organisms that are collected or retained by a sieve with a maximum opening dimension of 0.56 inches.

NR 111.03 Note Note: Examples of sieves that would be included as having an opening dimension of 0.56 inches or less include a 3/8 inch square mesh or a 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch mesh.

NR 111.03(12) (12) “Entrainment” means the entrance and passing through into a cooling water intake structure and into a cooling water system, including the condenser or heat exchanger, of entrainable organisms. A facility shall use the same mesh size when counting entrainment as is used when counting impingement.

NR 111.03(13) (13) “Entrainment mortality” means death as a result of entrainment through the cooling water intake structure, or death as a result of exclusion from the cooling water intake structure by fine mesh screens or other protective devices intended to prevent the passage of entrainable organisms through the cooling water intake structure.

NR 111.03(14) (14) “Entrapment” means the condition in which impingeable fish and shellfish lack the means to escape the cooling water intake. “Entrapment” includes the conditions in which organisms are caught in the bucket of a traveling screen and unable to reach a fish return, caught in the forebay of a cooling water intake system without any means of being returned to the source waterbody without experiencing mortality, or caught in a cooling water intake system where the velocities in the intake pipes or in any channels leading to the forebay prevent the organisms from being able to return to the source waterbody through the intake pipe or channel.

NR 111.03(15) (15) “Existing facility” means a facility determined to be an existing facility under s. NR 111.02 (3).

NR 111.03(16) (16) “Facility” means any WPDES point source as defined in s. 283.01 (12), Stats., or any other facility or activity that is subject to regulation under the WPDES program.

NR 111.03(17) (17) “Flow reduction” means any modification to a cooling water intake structure or its operation that serves to reduce the volume of cooling water withdrawn.

NR 111.03 Note Note: Examples of flow reduction include variable speed pumps, seasonal flow reductions, wet cooling towers, dry cooling towers, hybrid cooling towers, unit closures, or substitution for withdrawals by reuse of effluent from a nearby facility.

NR 111.03(18) (18) “Fragile species” means those species of fish and shellfish with an impingement survival rate less than 30 percent, including alewife, gizzard shad, rainbow smelt, and any other species deemed fragile by the department.

NR 111.03(19) (19) “Hydraulic zone of influence” means the portion of the source waterbody hydraulically affected by the cooling water intake structure withdrawal of water.

NR 111.03(20) (20) “Impingement” means the entrapment of any life stages of fish and shellfish on the outer part of an intake structure or against a screening device during periods of intake water withdrawal. Impingement includes those organisms collected or retained on a sieve with maximum distance in the opening of 0.56 inches and excludes those organisms that pass through the sieve. The owner or operator of a facility shall use a sieve with the same mesh size when counting entrainment as is used when counting impingement.