Mayhew David A, Muessig Paul H, Jensen Loren D
EA Engineering Science and Technology, Inc, Hunt Valley, MD 21031, USA.
ScientificWorldJournal. 2002 Mar 8;2 Suppl 1:21-9. doi: 10.1100/tsw.2002.166.
Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, there has been a long, unresolved struggle to define a key phrase in Section 316(b) of the act: "adverse environmental impact" (AEI). Section 316(b) requires that the best technology available be used in cooling-water intake structures to minimize AEI due to entrainment and impingement of aquatic organisms. Various attempts were made to evaluate and define AEI, including focused national conferences on impact assessment. Unresolved arguments regarding AEI were reinvigorated following the 1995 Consent Decree requiring EPA to propose new rules to implement Section 316(b). This article reviews and compares eight proposed definitions of AEI. Six of the definitions define AEI as impact expressed at the population or higher level of biological organization. The two remaining definitions are unrelated to populations: a 1% cropping of the near-field organisms and "one fish equals AEI". The latter definition is based on the desire of some stakeholders to define AEI as the loss of any public trust resources. Equating loss of public trust resources with AEI hampers consensus on a definition because a societal-based policy concept (public trust resources) is commingled with science-based definitions based on population effects. We recommend that a population-based definition of AEI be incorporated into Section 316(b) guidance and observe that this will not preclude a state from exercising its law and policy to protect public trust resources.
自1972年《清洁水法》通过以来，对于该法案第316(b)节中的一个关键短语“不利环境影响”（AEI）的定义，一直存在长期且未解决的争论。第316(b)节要求在冷却水进水口结构中使用现有最佳技术，以尽量减少因水生生物的卷入和撞击造成的不利环境影响。人们进行了各种尝试来评估和定义不利环境影响，包括召开关于影响评估的全国性专题会议。在1995年同意令要求美国环境保护局（EPA）提出实施第316(b)节的新规则之后，关于不利环境影响的未解决争论再次活跃起来。本文回顾并比较了八个关于不利环境影响的提议定义。其中六个定义将不利环境影响定义为在种群或更高生物组织层面所表现出的影响。其余两个定义与种群无关：对近场生物进行1%的捕捞以及“一条鱼等同于不利环境影响”。后一个定义基于一些利益相关者将不利环境影响定义为任何公共信托资源损失的愿望。将公共信托资源的损失等同于不利环境影响阻碍了在定义上达成共识，因为一个基于社会的政策概念（公共信托资源）与基于种群效应的科学定义混在了一起。我们建议将基于种群的不利环境影响定义纳入第316(b)节的指导意见，并指出这不会妨碍一个州行使其法律和政策来保护公共信托资源。
