With the introduction of the new 316 (b) regulations for new plants and the long awaited Phase II rules for existing plants, customers and engineers struggle to find a clear interpretation. The 316 (b) regulations govern the methods by which large volumes of raw water (50 MGD and larger) may be withdrawn to prevent or reduce the environmental impact. The largest users of such "raw water" are power generation facilities (primarily for cooling water) the greatest impact form them is normally to the juvenile fish population.

The new regulations are difficult to interpret due to so many different considerations that must be taken into account to verify compliance (i.e. type of plant, water source, plant location, intake velocities, type of intake, etc.). At the end of the day, one conclusion may be drawn and that is a site specific study should be conducted for existing facilities to determine the best method and modifications required for compliance. There are also variations in the interpretation of "BTA" or "Best Technology Available" to reduce the environmental impact caused by withdrawing such a large volume of water.

Brackett Green's staff has been involved with what are commonly referred to as "Fish Screens" for more than 25 years and is responsible for the design used as today's standard. The development of the S.I.M.P.L.E.® Fish Screens (Stabilized Integrated Marine Protective Lifting Environment) has been coined by some states as "BTA". The name S.I.M.P.L.E. was chosen as other complex methods existed which actually increased mortality and as one environmentalist suggested, there must be a simpler way to recover and save fish.

When the new S.I.M.P.L.E. Fish Screens were first installed, state environmentalist were skeptical about the results. However, after a year of rigorous testing, the survival numbers proved to be not only acceptable, but much higher than imagined. Brackett Green has S.I.M.P.L.E. Fish Handling Screens installed at various sites throughout the US and Canada and is considered the leader in traveling water screen fish handling technology. A complete "Fish Handling" package is available upon request.