Opinion ID: 796659
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Applicability of Section 316(b) to Existing Facilities

Text: 114 Entergy argues that the EPA lacks authority to apply CWA section 316(b) to existing, as opposed to new, facilities. We disagree and conclude that, at the very least, the EPA permissibly interpreted the statute to cover existing facilities and that its interpretation is therefore entitled to deference under Chevron. 115 Entergy's argument turns primarily on the statutory language that the best technology available be reflected in the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures — a collection of words Entergy contends indicates Congress's intent to regulate only new facilities. 31 Entergy argues further that the EPA has authority to approve cooling water intake structures only before construction and cannot regulate these structures through the NPDES permits issued pursuant to CWA section 402(a)(1), 33 U.S.C. § 1342(a)(1), which allows the Administrator to issue a permit for the discharge of any pollutant, but not, in Entergy's view, to cover existing intake structures. 116 The EPA emphasizes that section 316(b) cross-references section 301, which applies to existing facilities, and that the Agency's historical practice of applying section 316(b) to existing facilities effectuates Congress's objectives in enacting the CWA. The EPA contends that Congress's link between effluent limitations established pursuant to section 301 and BTA under section 316(b) indicates an intent to regulate cooling water intake structures at existing facilities. The EPA thus argues that the intake-structure standard is to be applied whenever an intake structure is present at a point source of pollutant discharge, whether that point source is new or existing. As to Entergy's argument concerning the ability to assess intake structures during NPDES permitting proceedings, the EPA argues that its decision to implement the Phase II requirements through NPDES permits has a strong textual basis. It notes that section 402 provides for the issuance of a permit for the discharge of any pollutant so long as the discharge meets all applicable requirements under sections 1311 . . . [and] 1316, sections 301 and 306 of the CWA respectively. CWA § 402(a)(1), 33 U.S.C. § 1342(a)(1). EPA contends that the Phase II requirements are requirements under sections 1311 . . . [and] 1316 and therefore that cooling water intake structures may be regulated via permits issued pursuant to section 402. 117 The EPA has the better of both arguments. As to whether section 316(b) applies to existing facilities, we find Entergy's textual argument, while superficially appealing, ultimately to be unavailing. Nothing in section 316(b) indicates that because it applies to the location, design, construction, and capacity of a facility's cooling water intake structure, the section is therefore limited to new facilities and does not require existing facilities either to modify existing intake structures or to construct new intake structures in order to come into compliance with the EPA's Rule. 32 In fact, given the cross-references in section 316(b) to provisions governing both new and existing facilities, the EPA's reading is far more reasonable than Entergy's. See E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Train, 430 U.S. 112, 121, 97 S.Ct. 965, 51 L.Ed.2d 204 (1977) (Section 301(b) [to which section 316(b) expressly refers] defines the effluent limitations that shall be achieved by existing point sources . . . .); id. at 136, 97 S.Ct. 965 (holding that 301 does authorize the [Agency] to promulgate effluent limitations for classes and categories of existing point sources). The cross-reference to section 301 is particularly significant given that Congress, having made this explicit cross-reference, did not then limit section 316(b)'s application to new facilities — which would have been a simple task to do. At the very least, the EPA's view that section 316(b) applies to existing facilities is a reasonable interpretation of the statute, and we therefore accord it deference. See Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778. 118 Entergy's argument concerning the permitting process presents a closer question, but it is ultimately not persuasive and does not undermine our conclusion that section 316(b), on its face, applies to existing facilities. The textual basis for the EPA to regulate cooling water intake structures during the periodic permitting process applicable to the discharge of pollutants is not immediately apparent. Section 402 conditions the issuance of a permit on the circumstance that a  discharge will meet . . . all applicable requirements under sections 1311..[and] 1316. CWA § 402(a)(1), 33 U.S.C. § 1342(a)(1) (emphasis added). While the Phase II requirements are requirements under sections 301 and 306, they do not apply to the discharge of pollutants, and section 402 says nothing about conditioning a permit on compliance with other requirements of sections 301 and 306, i.e., requirements not relating to the discharge of pollutants. Despite this textual hiccup, the EPA's decision to use the NPDES process to enforce section 316(b) is not unreasonable. Insofar as the provision applies to existing facilities — and the cross-reference in section 316(b) to section 301 provides a clear textual basis for that conclusion — the EPA could enforce it only through some permit process following the issuance of an initial construction permit. Moreover, the structure of section 316(b) supports the view that its requirements are to be enforced through the same process used to enforce the effluent limitations of sections 301 and 306. As noted, the statute requires that any standard established by the EPA to govern the discharge of pollutants from existing facilities must also regulate cooling water intake structures. CWA § 316(b), 33 U.S.C. § 1326(b) (providing that [a]ny standard established pursuant to section 1311 . . . or section 1316 shall also regulate the cooling water intake structures of point sources). In light of this language, it is at least reasonable to conclude that Congress intended the requirements of section 316(b) to be part and parcel of any regulation of, and therefore any permit issuance relating to, the discharge of pollutants. See Riverkeeper I, 358 F.3d at 185-86. It is a fair conclusion that section 402 implicitly requires permitting authorities to ensure compliance with section 316(b) as a permit condition. See U.S. Steel Corp. v. Train, 556 F.2d 822, 850 (7th Cir.1977) ([Section] 402(a)(1) implicitly requires the Administrator to insure compliance with § 316(b) as one of the permit conditions.), overruled on other grounds by City of West Chicago, Ill. v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 701 F.2d 632, 644 (7th Cir. 1983) (abandoning the view that 5 U.S.C. § 558(c) independently provides that formal adjudicatory hearings must be held when requested by a license applicant under CWA § 402). Section 402 thus does not undermine the deference to which the Agency's interpretation of section 316(b) is entitled under Chevron. 119 Because section 316(b) plainly applies to existing facilities and Congress intended the requirements of section 316(b) to apply in tandem with the effluent limitations established pursuant to sections 301 and 306, we conclude that the EPA may regulate cooling water intake structures via the NPDES permit process. Otherwise, Congress's intent to regulate the intake structures of existing facilities could not be effectuated. 33 Accordingly, we reject this aspect of Entergy's challenge. 120