On May 19, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
finalized its long-awaited
rule under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) imposing
requirements for cooling water intake structures (CWIS) at power
plants and manufacturing facilities in order to protect aquatic
life. The rule, on which EPA received
input from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National
Marine Fisheries Service, will become effective 60 days after its
publication in the Federal Register.
EPA has stated that the withdrawal of large volumes of water
from nearby water bodies by power plants and manufacturing
facilities results in the removal of billions of aquatic organisms
from these water bodies each year. The main threats CWIS pose
to these organisms are impingement (the entrapment of organisms
against the outer part of a CWIS) and entrainment (drawing of the
organisms into the cooling water system).
