ABSTRACT
Regulations to control industrial withdrawal of cooling water from surface waters are governed by Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 1 which states that Any standard established pursuant to section 301 or section 306 of this Act 2 and applicable to a point source shall require that the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact. Two phrases in this section are so important and so often repeated in regulatory documents that acronyms are used almost universally: best technology available (BTA) and adverse environmental impact (AEI).
