Best Available Technology (BAT)

Best available technology (bat) refers to a doctrine, sometimes adopted in enforcement of environmental policy, to pursue only the most stateof-the-art, technological solutions and processes, regardless of efficiency or expense. For permitting of industrial effluents under the Clean Water Act, for example, levels of allowed toxic pollutants have been set as matching those that might be reached with the “Best Available Technology.” The doctrine of BAT differs significantly from cost-benefit decisionmaking, as employed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, for example, in balancing the costs of a project against the potential gains or losses.

The difference between the two can be seen in the strength of the levee system in New Orleans, Louisiana prior to Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. When the levees broke, catastrophic damage occurred. The Corps of Engineers had used state-ofthe-art technology in their cost-benefit studies, including the likelihood of a great hurricane striking the city. The cost of rebuilding New Orleans will probably be more than the cost if the BAT doctrine had been applied. If the levees of New Orleans had been protected by the BAT doctrine, it would have appeared excessively expensive; however the decision to use BAT would have had a different environmental impact.

Many future-oriented businesses have adopted a BAT strategy in order to beat competition in the struggle for market share. Environmental issues can also benefit from the BAT approach if the situation is an emergency like an oil spill, or the survival of a species. Congress has mandated BAT be used to control air pollution in the Clear Air Act.

When the levees broke in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, catastrophic damage followed.

Both state laws and other federal laws related to the Clean Air Act have mandated the use of BAT. The courts are in the process of applying BAT to cases as a legal doctrine.

In the area of pollution control, a modified form of BAT is the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) approach. Using BACT means that the best technology for controlling pollution, such as nuclear waste, is accomplished by whatever means at any cost. BACT is used in contrast to the most economical pollutions-control approach to environmental problems, which runs the risk of failures that will result in major ecological disasters. The policy decision to avoid risk in order to save money is a decision more concerned with excellent results than with costs. Under the Clean Air Act, a polluter must show that pollution emissions cannot be controlled by BAT. Usually, whichever technology produces the greatest reduction of air pollutants is the technology that must be used by a polluter regardless of the cost.