Supplemental Environmental Assessment for Proposed
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United States Office of Water EPA-821-R-19-010 Environmental Protection Washington, DC 20460 November 2019 Agency Supplemental Environmental Assessment for Proposed Revisions to the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category United States Office of Water EPA-821-R-19-010 Environmental Protection Washington, DC 20460 November 2019 Agency Supplemental Environmental Assessment for Proposed Revisions to the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category EPA-821-R-19-010 November 2019 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water (4303T) Washington, DC 20460 Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency. Neither the United States Government nor any of its employees, contractors, subcontractors, or their employees make any warrant, expressed or implied, or assume any legal liability or responsibility for any third party’s use of or the results of such use of any information, apparatus, product, or process discussed in this report, or represents that its use by such party would not infringe on privately owned rights. Questions regarding this document should be directed to: U.S. EPA Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T) 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20460 (202) 566-1000 i Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Page SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Background on Steam Electric Wastewater Discharges ......................................... 1-1 1.2 Scope of the Analysis ........................................................................................... 1-2 SECTION 2 ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN HEALTH CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EVALUATED WASTESTREAMS ........................... 2-1 2.1 Pollutants Discharged in the Evaluated Wastestreams ........................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Concentrations and Salinity ................... 2-2 2.1.2 Bromide ............................................................................................... 2-4 2.1.3 Iodine ................................................................................................... 2-6 2.2 Supplemental Literature Review on Environmental Impacts of Other Pollutants in Discharges of the Evaluated Wastestreams ....................................... 2-9 SECTION 3 OVERVIEW OF METHODOLOGY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUANTITATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ....................................... 3-1 3.1 Impact Areas Selected for Quantitative Assessment .............................................. 3-1 3.2 Scope of Evaluated Plants and Immediate Receiving Waters ................................ 3-2 3.3 Pollutant Loadings for the Evaluated Wastestreams .............................................. 3-3 3.4 Overview of Immediate Receiving Water (IRW) Model ....................................... 3-6 3.4.1 Structure of the IRW Model ................................................................. 3-7 3.4.2 Pollutants Evaluated by IRW Model ..................................................... 3-9 3.5 Downstream Analysis ........................................................................................... 3-9 3.6 Proximity Analysis for Impaired Waters and Fish Consumption Advisory Waters ................................................................................................................ 3-10 SECTION 4 RESULTS OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUANTITATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ...................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Estimated Pollutant Loadings for the Evaluated Wastestreams .............................. 4-1 4.2 Key Impacts Identified by IRW Model ................................................................. 4-4 4.2.1 Water Quality Module .......................................................................... 4-4 4.2.2 Wildlife Module ................................................................................... 4-9 4.2.3 Human Health Module ....................................................................... 4-10 4.3 Impacts in Downstream Surface Waters .............................................................. 4-17 4.4 Discharges to Impaired Waters and Fish Consumption Advisory Waters ............ 4-19 4.4.1 Impaired Waters ................................................................................. 4-19 4.4.2 Fish Consumption Advisories ............................................................. 4-23 SECTION 5 REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 5-1 APPENDIX A ADVERSE IMPACTS FROM EXPOSURE TO METALS AND TOXIC AND BIOACCUMULATIVE POLLUTANTS ii Table of Contents TABLES OF CONTENTS (Continued) APPENDIX B ADVERSE IMPACTS FROM EXPOSURE TO TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS APPENDIX C WATER QUALITY MODULE METHODOLOGY APPENDIX D WILDLIFE MODULE METHODOLOGY APPENDIX E HUMAN HEALTH MODULE METHODOLOGY APPENDIX F ADDITIONAL IRW MODEL RESULTS iii List of Tables LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1-1. Coal-Fired Power Plant Wastestreams Evaluated in the Supplemental EA .............. 1-3 Table 2-1. Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) for Drinking Water Disinfection Byproducts (DBPs) ......................... 2-6 Table 3-1. Plants, Generating Units, and Immediate Receiving Waters Evaluated in the Supplemental EA ......................................................................................................... 3-4 Table 3-2. Plants, Generating Units, and Immediate Receiving Waters with Pollutant Loadings under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ................................................ 3-4 Table 4-1. Estimated Industry-Level Pollutant Loadings and Estimated Change in Loadings by Regulatory Option ................................................................................... 4-2 Table 4-2. Estimated Annual Baseline Mass Pollutant Loadings and Estimated Change in Loadings Under Four Regulatory Options for the Evaluated Wastestreams (Supplemental EA Subset of Pollutants) ...................................................................... 4-3 Table 4-3. Modeled IRWs with Exceedances of NRWQCs and MCLs under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ............................................................................................. 4-5 Table 4-4. Modeled IRWs with Exceedances of Any NRWQC or MCL, by Pollutant under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ............................................................... 4-6 Table 4-5. Modeled IRWs with Exceedances of NRWQCs and MCLs under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options: Best- and Worst-Case Monthly Scenarios............................ 4-7 Table 4-6. Modeled IRWs with Exceedances of TECs and NEHCs under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ............................................................................................4-10 Table 4-7. Modeled IRWs with Exceedances of Oral RfD (Non-Cancer Human Health Effects) under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options .................................................4-12 Table 4-8. Modeled IRWs with LECR Greater Than One-in-a-Million (Cancer Human Health Effects) under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ......................................4-13 Table 4-9. Modeled IRWs with Exceedances of Oral RfD (Non-Cancer Human Health Effects), by Race Category, under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ..................4-14 Table 4-10. Comparison of Modeled T4 Fish Tissue Concentrations to Fish Advisory Screening Values under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ..................................4-16 Table 4-11. Modeled Downstream River Miles with Exceedances of Any Pollutant Evaluation Benchmark Value under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options................4-18 Table 4-12. IRWs Identified as Clean Water Act 303(d) Impaired Waters or Fish Consumption Advisory Waters under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options .............4-19 Table 4-13. IRWs Listed as 303(d) Impaired for Pollutants Present in the Evaluated Wastestreams under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options ........................................4-20 Table 4-14. IRWs with Fish Consumption Advisories for Pollutants Present in the Evaluated Wastestreams under Baseline and Four Regulatory Options .......................4-24 iv List of Figures LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 3-1. Locations of Immediate Receiving Waters Evaluated in the Supplemental EA ...... 3-5 Figure 3-2. Overview of IRW Model ....................................................................................... 3-8 Figure 4-1. Worst-Case Months for Water Quality Conditions in Immediate Receiving Waters ......................................................................................................................... 4-9 Figure 4-2. Immediate Receiving Waters Impaired by Mercury ..............................................4-21 Figure 4-3. Immediate Receiving Waters Impaired by Metals, Other Than Mercury ...............4-21 Figure 4-4. Immediate Receiving Waters Impaired by Nutrients .............................................4-22 Figure 4-5. Immediate Receiving Waters with Fish Consumption Advisory for Mercury........4-24 v List of Abbreviations LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS μg/g Micrograms per gram μg/L Micrograms per liter µg/m3 Micrograms per cubic meter µS/cm MicroSiemens per centimeter ADES Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. ADD Average daily dose ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances