Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/08pdf/07-588.pdf/07-588.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

Cite as:  556 U. S. ____ (2009) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

regulation.  The EPA’s initial attempt at such a regulation 
came to nought when the Fourth Circuit determined that
the agency had failed to adhere to the procedural require-
ments of the Administrative Procedure Act.  Appalachian 
Power  Co.  v.  Train,  566  F. 2d  451,  457  (1977).    The  EPA 
withdrew  the  regulation,  44  Fed.  Reg.  32956  (1979),  and 
instead  published  “draft  guidance”  for  use  in  implement-
ing  §1326(b)’s  requirements  via  site-specific  permit  deci-
sions under §1342.  See EPA, Office of Water Enforcement 
Permits Div., {Draft} Guidance for Evaluating the Adverse 
Impact of Cooling Water Intake Structures on the Aquatic
Environment:  Section  316(b)  P. L.  92–500,  (May  1,  1977),  at 
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/316b/files/1977AEIguid.pdf, 
(all Internet materials as visited Mar. 30, 2009, and avail-
able  in  Clerk  of  Court’s  case  file);  69  Fed.  Reg.  41584
(describing system of case-by-case permits under the draft 
guidance).

In  1995,  the  EPA  entered  into  a  consent  decree  which, 
as  subsequently  amended,  set  a  multiphase  timetable  for 
the  EPA  to  promulgate  regulations  under  §1326(b).    See 
Riverkeeper,  Inc.  v.  Whitman,  No.  93  Civ.  0314  (AGS),
2001 WL 1505497, *1 (SDNY, Nov. 27, 2001).  In the first 
phase the EPA adopted regulations governing certain new, 
large cooling water intake structures.  66 Fed. Reg. 65256
(2001)  (Phase  I  rules);  see  40  CFR  §§125.80(a),  125.81(a) 
(2008).  Those  rules  require  new  facilities  with  water-
intake  flow  greater  than  10  million  gallons  per  day  to,
among  other  things,  restrict  their  inflow  “to  a  level  com-
mensurate  with  that  which  can  be  attained  by  a  closed-
cycle  recirculating  cooling  water  system.”2   §125.84(b)(1).
New  facilities  with  water-intake  flow  between  2  million 
—————— 

2 Closed-cycle  cooling  systems  recirculate  the  water  used  to  cool  the
facility,  and  consequently  extract  less  water  from  the  adjacent  water-
way,  proportionately 
impingement  and  entrainment. 
Riverkeeper,  Inc.  v.  EPA,  358  F. 3d  174,  182,  n. 5  (CA2  2004);  69  Fed.
Reg. 41601, and n. 44 (2004). 

reducing