Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/08pdf/07-588.pdf/07-588.pdf
Page Number: 34

Cite as:  556 U. S. ____ (2009) 

5 

STEVENS, J., dissenting 

does  Congress  explicitly  authorize  the  use  of  cost-benefit
analysis as it does elsewhere in the CWA.  And the use of 
cost-benefit  analysis,  like  the  consideration  of  implemen-
tation  costs  in  American  Trucking,  “pad[s]”  §316(b)’s 
environmental  mandate  with  tangential  economic  effi-
ciency  concerns.    Id.,  at  468.  Yet  the  majority  fails  to 
follow  American  Trucking  despite  that  case’s  obvious 
relevance to our inquiry. 

II 
In 1972, Congress amended the CWA to strike a careful
balance  between  the  country’s  energy  demands  and  its
desire  to  protect  the  environment.    The  Act  required  in-
dustry  to  adopt  increasingly  advanced  technology  capable 
of  mitigating  its  detrimental  environmental  impact.    Not 
all  point  sources  were  subject  to  strict  rules  at  once.    Ex-
isting  plants  were  granted  time  to  retrofit  with  the  best
technology while new plants were required to incorporate
such technology as a matter of design.  Although Congress 
realized  that  technology  standards  would  necessarily  put 
some  firms  out  of  business,  see  EPA  v.  National  Crushed 
Stone  Assn.,  449  U. S.  64,  79  (1980),  the  statute’s  steady 
march  was  toward  stricter  rules  and  potentially  higher 
costs. 

Section  §316(b)  was  an  integral  part  of  the  statutory 
scheme.  The  provision  instructs  that  “[a]ny  standard 
established pursuant to section 1311 of this title or section 
1316  of  this  title  and  applicable  to  a  point  source  shall
require that the location, design, construction, and capac-
ity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best tech-
nology  available  for  minimizing  adverse  environmental 
impact.” 
33  U. S. C.  §1326(b)  (2006  ed.)  (emphasis 
added).4    The  “best  technology  available,”  or  “BTA,”  stan-
—————— 

4 The two cross-referenced provisions, §§1311 and 1316, also establish
“best  technology”  standards,  the  first  applicable  to  existing  point 
sources and the second to new facilities.  The reference to these provi-