EPA is proposing regulations implementing section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). This regulation is the third in a series of rulemaking actions under CWA section 316(b), addressing the environmental impacts of cooling water intake structures (CWIS). The Proposed Section 316(b) Rule for Phase III Facilities would establish national performance requirements for the location, design, construction, and capacity of CWIS at facilities subject to this regulation. The proposed national requirements would establish the best technology available (BTA) to minimize the adverse environmental impact (AEI) associated with the use of these structures. CWIS may cause AEI through several means, including impingement (where fish and other aquatic life are trapped on equipment at the entrance to CWIS) and entrainment (where aquatic organisms, eggs, and larvae are taken into the cooling system, passed through the heat exchanger, and then discharged back into the source water body).

"November 2004."

Evaluation methods.-- Methods used to evaluate I & E.-- Uncertainty.-- Economic benefit categories and valuation.-- Methods for estimating commercial fishing benefits.-- Recreational fishing benefits methodology.-- Qualitative assessment of non-use benefits.-- Entrainment survival.-- Discounting benefits.-- Threatened & endangered species analysis methods.-- California.-- Background.-- Evaluation aof impingement and entrainment in California.-- Commercial fishing valuation.-- Recreational use benefits.-- Threatened and endangered species analysis.-- North Atlantic (Same subdivisions as California).-- Mid-Atlantic Region.-- Gulf of Mexico.-- The Great Lakes.-- The Inland Region.-- National benefits.