EPA's Second, Watery Front

摘要

EPA is preparing to battle utilities on a second front. This time it's a water assault using Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act. EPA's regulations implementing this simple section of the Act have been litigated up to the Supreme Court and back again. Briefly, 316(b) addresses the squashing against intake screens or suctioning into the cooling system of fish and shellfish or their eggs at facilities that need large quantities of cooling water from lakes, rivers, estuaries or oceans. This past April, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA may consider site-specific costs and benefits when determining best technology available, but is not required to do so.