back | home > society > policy > cwa

The Clean Water Act of 1972: Summary

Background

Enactment: October 18, 1972

Also known as: Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972

Related legislation: Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948; Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.); Clean Air Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.); Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 300f et seq.)

Revisions: Major amendments in 1977, 1987. Reauthorized in 1987.

Implementation and enforcement: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); authorized states, territories, and tribes.

Intent

The stated objective of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” (§ 101(a)). To support this broad objective, this act establishes specific national goals concerning the health of United States surface waters. These goals include a complete elimination of pollutant discharge into navigable waters by 1985, the complete prohibition of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts, and the establishment of programs to control both point and nonpoint source pollution, among others (§ 101(a)). Although the nation has already fallen short of many of these goals, they form the groundwork for the rest of the act.

A major accomplishment of the Clean Water Act has been the significant reduction of point source pollutants in our nation’s waters. Through a complex set of permits and regulations, an industry is required to reduce its discharge of pollutants to a level that:

• Meets EPA- and state-established criteria for maintaining water quality that is sufficient for designated public uses (waters must generally be fit for fishing and swimming as a minimum requirement; and

• Is economically and technologically feasible for the industry itself.

Through these controls, each state (or territory or authorized tribe) is required to make sure each water body covered by the CWA meets the water quality criteria the state has set to make it fit for its designated uses.

While states and the EPA have had considerable success in controlling point source pollution, nonpoint source pollution continues to be a major water quality issue. Although controlling nonpoint source pollution is a stated goal of the CWA, the EPA has no authority to regulate it. Voluntary programs have been developed under the CWA “umbrella” and have been the primary tools for controlling nonpoint pollutions. As a result of the 1987 amendments, section 319, the part of the act most relevant to fire management and other nonpoint sources, requires individual states to develop EPA-approved plans to deal with non-point source pollution (Weinberg 2001).

summary | flowchart | cases | document | references