La. Admin. Code tit. 33 § IX-4773

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024

Section IX-4773 - As an owner or operator of a new offshore oil and gas extraction facility, what must I collect and submit when I apply for my new or reissued LPDES permit?

A. General Application Requirements

1. As an owner or operator of a new offshore oil and gas extraction facility, you must submit to the administrative authority a statement that you intend to comply with either:

a. the Track I requirements for new offshore oil and gas extraction facilities in LAC 33:IX.4769.B; or

b. if you are a fixed facility, the Track II requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.C.

2. You must also submit the application information required by LAC 33:IX.2501.R and the information required in either Subsection B of this Section for Track I or, if you are a fixed facility that chooses to comply under Track II, Subsection C of this Section when you apply for a new or reissued LPDES permit in accordance with LAC 33:IX.2501.

B. Track I Application Requirements. To demonstrate compliance with Track I requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B, you must collect and submit to the administrative authority the information in Paragraphs B.1-3 of this Section.

1. Velocity Information. You must submit the following information to the administrative authority to demonstrate that you are complying with the requirement to meet a maximum through-screen design intake velocity of no more than 0.5 ft/ s at each cooling water intake structure as required in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.3:

a. a narrative description of the design, structure, equipment, and operation used to meet the velocity requirement; and

b. design calculations showing that the velocity requirement will be met at minimum ambient source water surface elevations (based on best professional judgment using available hydrological data) and maximum head loss across the screens or other device.

2. Source Water Body Flow Information. If you are a fixed facility and your cooling water intake structure is located in an estuary or tidal river, you must provide the mean low water tidal excursion distance and any supporting documentation and engineering calculations to show that your cooling water intake structure facility meets the flow requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.4.

3. Design and Construction Technology Plan. To comply with LAC 33:IX.4769.B.5 and/ or 6, if applicable, you must submit to the administrative authority the following information in a design and construction technology plan:

a. if the administrative authority determines that additional impingement requirements should be included in your permit:

i. information to demonstrate whether you meet the criteria in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.5;

ii. delineation of the hydraulic zone of influence for your cooling water intake structure; and

b. if required to install design and construction technologies and/ or operational measures in accordance with LAC 33:IX.4769.B.5 or 6, a plan explaining the technologies and measures you have selected. (Examples of appropriate technologies include, but are not limited to, increased opening to cooling water intake structure to decrease design intake velocity, wedgewire screens, fixed screens, velocity caps, location of cooling water intake opening in water body, etc. Examples of appropriate operational measures include, but are not limited to, seasonal shutdowns or reductions in flow, continuous operations of screens, etc.) The plan must contain the following information, if applicable:

i. a narrative description of the design and operation of the design and construction technologies, including fish-handling and return systems, that you will use to maximize the survival of those species expected to be most susceptible to impingement. Provide species-specific information that demonstrates the efficacy of the technology;

ii. to demonstrate compliance with LAC 33:IX.4769.B.6, if applicable, a narrative description of the design and operation of the design and construction technologies that you will use to minimize entrainment of those species expected to be the most susceptible to entrainment. Provide species-specific information that demonstrates the efficacy of the technology; and

iii. design calculations, drawings, and estimates to support the descriptions provided in Clauses B.3.b.i and ii of this Section.

C. Track II Application Requirements. If you are a fixed facility and have chosen to comply with the requirements of Track II in LAC 33:IX.4769.C, you must collect and submit to the administrative authority the following information.

1. Source Water Body Flow Information. If your cooling water intake structure is located in an estuary or tidal river, you must provide the mean low water tidal excursion distance and any supporting documentation and engineering calculations to show that your cooling water intake structure facility meets the flow requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.C.2.

2. Track II Comprehensive Demonstration Study. You must perform and submit the results of a comprehensive demonstration study (study). This information is required to characterize the source water baseline in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure(s), characterize operation of the cooling water intake(s), and confirm that the technology(ies) proposed and/ or implemented at your cooling water intake structure reduces the impacts to fish and shellfish to levels comparable to those you would achieve were you to implement the applicable requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.

a. To meet the comparable-level requirement, you must demonstrate that:

i. you have reduced impingement mortality of all life stages of fish and shellfish to 90 percent or greater of the reduction that would be achieved through the applicable requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.3; and

ii. if you are a facility without sea chests, you have minimized entrainment of entrainable life stages of fish and shellfish to 90 percent or greater of the reduction that would have been achieved through the applicable requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.6.

b. You must develop and submit a plan to the administrative authority containing a proposal for how information will be collected to support the study. The plan must include:

i. a description of the proposed and/ or implemented technology(ies) to be evaluated in the study;

ii. a list and description of any historical studies characterizing the physical and biological conditions in the vicinity of the proposed or actual intakes and their relevancy to the proposed study. If you propose to rely on existing source water body data, the data must be no more than 5 years old, you must demonstrate that the existing data are sufficient to develop a scientifically valid estimate of potential impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment impacts, and you must provide documentation showing that the data were collected using appropriate quality assurance/ quality control procedures;

iii. any public participation or consultation with federal or state agencies undertaken in developing the plan; and

iv. a sampling plan for data that will be collected using actual field studies in the source water body. The sampling plan must document all methods and quality assurance procedures for sampling and data analysis. The sampling and data analysis methods you propose must be appropriate for a quantitative survey and based on consideration of methods used in other studies performed in the source water body. The sampling plan must include a description of the study area (including the area of influence of the cooling water intake structure and at least 100 meters beyond), taxonomic identification of the sampled or evaluated biological assemblages (including all life stages of fish and shellfish), and sampling and data analysis methods.

c. You must submit documentation of the results of the study to the administrative authority. Documentation of the results of the study must include the following information.

i. Source Water Biological Study. The source water biological study must include:

(a). a taxonomic identification and characterization of aquatic biological resources including a summary of historical and contemporary aquatic biological resources, a determination and description of the target populations of concern (those species of fish and shellfish and all life stages that are most susceptible to impingement and entrainment), and a description of the abundance and temporal/ spatial characterization of the target populations based on the collection of multiple years of data to capture the seasonal and daily activities (e.g., spawning, feeding, and water column migration) of all life stages of fish and shellfish found in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure;

(b). an identification of all threatened or endangered species that might be susceptible to impingement and entrainment by the proposed cooling water intake structure(s); and

(c). a description of additional chemical, water quality, and other anthropogenic stresses on the source water body.

ii. Evaluation of Potential Cooling Water Intake Structure Effects. This evaluation must include:

(a). calculations of the reduction in impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish that would need to be achieved by the technologies you have selected to implement to meet requirements under Track II. To do this, you must determine the reduction in impingement mortality and entrainment that would be achieved by implementing the requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.3 and, for facilities without sea chests, LAC 33:IX.4769.B.6 of Track I at your site;

(b). an engineering estimate of efficacy for the proposed and/ or implemented technologies used to minimize impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish and maximize survival of impinged life stages of fish and shellfish. You must demonstrate that the technologies reduce impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment of all life stages of fish and shellfish to a comparable level to that which you would achieve were you to implement the requirements in LAC 33:IX.4769.B.3 and, for facilities without sea chests, LAC 33:IX.4769.B.6 of Track I. The efficacy projection must include a site-specific evaluation of technology(ies) suitability for reducing impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment based on the results of the source water biological study conducted in accordance with Clause C.2.c.i of this Section. Efficacy estimates may be determined based on case studies that have been conducted in the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure and/ or site-specific technology prototype studies.

iii. Verification Monitoring Plan. You must include in the study a plan to conduct, at a minimum, two years of monitoring to verify the full-scale performance of the proposed or implemented technologies and/ or operational measures. The verification study must begin at the start of operations of the cooling water intake structure and continue for a sufficient period of time to demonstrate that the facility is reducing the level of impingement mortality and (if applicable) entrainment to the level documented in Clause C.2.c.i of this Section. The plan must describe the frequency of monitoring and the parameters to be monitored. The administrative authority will use the verification monitoring to confirm that you are meeting the level of impingement mortality and entrainment reduction required in LAC 33:IX.4769.C and that the operation of the technology has been optimized.

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § IX-4773

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 33:2073 (October 2007).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq., and in particular Section 2074(B)(3) and (B)(4)