The Clean Water Act:
A Legal and Regulatory Framework
Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly referred
to as the Clean Water Act, in 1972. The Act's mission was to
"restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity
of the nation's waters." The Act laid out as its main goals: (1) zero
discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States by 1985 and
(2) fishable and swimmable waters by 1983.
The Act required cities to build and operate waste treatment plants,
and it required states to adopt water quality standards with federal
government oversight and set up permit systems to limit industrial and
municipal discharges of pollutants and protect wetlands. The Clean Water
Act also established a powerful tool for addressing polluted runoff,
the Total Maximum Daily Load Program (TMDLs).
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with administering
most of the provisions of the Act, with the major exception that the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers implements the permitting program for wetlands.
State Standards
Under the Clean Water Act, states must establish water quality standards
that define the goals for a waterbody. These standards
drive the development of water quality-based discharge permits, determine
which waters must be cleaned up, how much waters must be cleaned up,
and which waters need protection from pollution. In establishing water
quality standards, states must take three major, interrelated actions:
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Designate uses. States must designate one or more human and ecological
water uses that are officially recognized and protected for each waterbody;
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Establish water quality criteria (descriptions of the conditions
considered necessary to protect each designated use); and
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Develop and implement antidegradation policies and procedures (requirements
for protecting all existing uses, keeping clean waters clean, and giving
strict protection to outstanding waters).
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Under the Clean Water Act, all discharges of a pollutant from a discrete
source (i.e. a pipe) require a permit. The Clean Water Act's primary
"point source" control program is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES). Point source is defined as "any discernable, confined,
and discrete conveyance (any pipe, ditch, channel, or the like)." Thus,
a NPDES permit must be obtained from the EPA in order to legally discharge
any pollutant into a waterbody.
Nonpoint Sources of Pollution (Polluted Runoff)
The term "non-point" pollution, or polluted runoff, means any source
of pollution that does not flow from a point source. The Clean Water
Act provides no regulatory controls for non-point source pollution.
However, the Act does provide numerous ways to address non-point source
pollution, including provisions for:
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identifying, assessing, and reporting problems;
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funding monitoring, control, and restoration projects;
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ratcheting down pollution from both point and nonpoint sources in
watersheds listed as impaired.
The TMDL Program
The Clean Water Act calls on each state to list its polluted water
bodies and to set priorities for their clean up. Water bodies qualify
for an "impaired waters list" (also known as a 303(d) list) when they
are too polluted or degraded to meet water quality standards (fail to
support their designated or existing uses). The states must submit their
impaired waters lists to Congress.
States must develop watershed restoration action plans , called a "Total
Maximum Daily Load" (TMDL) for each water body
listed on their impaired waters list. During the TMDL process, the state
specifies the problem in the waterbody, identifies the source s of pollution,
determines the reductions in pollution needed to solve the problem (meet
water quality standards/designated uses), and assigns responsibility
among the identified sources for the needed pollution reduction.
Citizen Suits
The Clean Water Act grants private citizens the right to bring legal
actions to enforce the provisions of the Act where a violation will or
may negatively affect them. After documenting a violation, the citizen
must provide 60 days advance notice of their intent to sue.
A special thanks to the River Network for providing the information used in
this summary. For more information on the Clean Water Act, contact
the River Network
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