Maryland Power Plant Cooling Water Intake Regulations and their Applications in Evaluation of Adverse Environmental Impacts.

摘要

The State of Maryland takes pride in its strong commitment to environmental protection, and a cornerstone of this commitment has been the State's efforts to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay and all of its diverse natural resources. One of the initial steps toward Bay protection was the creation in the early 1970s of the Power Plant Research Program (PPRP), an agency unique among states. PPRP was created by legislation in response to public controversy that arose when Baltimore Gas and Electric Company announced plans to construct the large Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant along the shoreline of the Bay. This plant would withdraw large volumes of cooling water from the Bay and discharge the heated water back into Bay waters. The public was concerned about the potential for the plant to adversely affect the Bay and its fisheries resources, and the state did not have adequate technical expertise with regard to the types of impacts potentially caused by power generating facilities to respond to those concerns. The legislature thus created PPRP to ensure that, in the future, all existing and proposed power generating and transmission facilities in Maryland would operate in such a manner as to ensure the protection of the state's natural resources while at the same time making available to the public electric power at reasonable rates. With regard to propose new generating and transmission facilities, PPRP is charged with assessing and advising the Maryland Public Service Commission on the environmental and economic considerations associated with the siting, design and operation of the proposed facilities. For existing facilities, PPRP provides technical assistance in permit review and evaluation to the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), which is the State's permitting agency, with responsibility for writing permits and enforcing compliance with permit provisions.