Clean Water Act (CWA), US

Abstract

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is federal legislation that established the basic structure for regulating pollutants discharged into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. With this legislation, the US Environmental Protection Agency has been able to implement pollution control programs such as setting water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters as well as setting wastewater standards for industry. The legislation also made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit is obtained. This permitting program was set up to control discharges from industrial, municipal, and other facilities – all of which must be permitted if their discharges go directly to surface waters. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a private septic system and do not have surface discharges do not need an NPDES permit. The basis of the CWA was first enacted in 1948 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), which was significantly reauthorized, reorganized, and expanded in 1972. With the major amendments implemented in 1977, the legislation was renamed the ‘Clean Water Act.’ It was amended again with the passage of the Water Quality Act of 1987. The Clean Water Rule of 2015 (also identified as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) was promulgated by the EPA to more inclusively define and regulate all bodies of water than previously established. It was contested in litigation in 2017 and the Trump Administration repealed the WOTUS rule on September 12, 2019. The Biden Administration announced it would restore the 2015 regulation widening the scope of federal jurisdiction over US waterways in June 2021.