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29 January 2007 -- A federal court ruled late Thursday that the enforcement of a section of the Clean Water Act to protect aquatic life must "be driven by technology, not cost" and certain interpretations of the law would be thrown out.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals said that while certain aspects of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) interpretation of the Clean Water Act were reasonable, several parts of its enforcement were remanded because the court saw them as against the intent of the law.
The decision concluded that it was improper for the EPA to allow power plants to use alternative methods for complying with the law. For example, the court ruled against the restocking of fish in affected waterways instead of upgrading technology to avoid fish kills.
Environmental groups and six northeastern states had sued the EPA over its rule-making regarding section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act that requires power plants to protect aquatic life when they use water from waterways for cooling.
The EPA said it was carefully reviewing the decision in order to proceed forward.
For more information on 316(b) and how it will impact power plants, see the Power Engineering article in the January issue of the magazine.
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