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State environmental policy
U.S. ecology policy
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Federal land policy
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This article outlines federal and state governments responsibilities involved in implementing the Clean Water Deed. The deed was passed by Congress and adopted in 1972. According to its text, the act's purpose is "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation'south waters." Its implementation is mostly divided between the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPA) and state governments. This partition of responsibilities entails that states establish regulatory systems that meet minimum federal requirements. States are responsible for establishing, reviewing, and revising water quality standards for waters within their borders. States also implement permit programs if authorized by the EPA and can revise water quality criteria to fit local needs. On the other mitt, the regulation of dredged and fill up materials, which are excavated from bodies of water and generally used to supplant an aquatic surface area with dry land, is a federal responsibility.[1] [2] [3]

Provisions

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

Run into also: National Pollutant Belch Emptying System

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) is a let program implemented by authorized country governments and the Ecology Protection Agency (EPA). Industrial facilities and municipalities that discharge pollutants into navigable waters must hold a permit from the EPA or authorized state agencies before they tin discharge these pollutants. The arrangement sets measurable limits on the amount of pollutants discharged by a source; regulated pollutants include wastes, soils, rocks, chemicals, bacteria, suspended solids, heavy metals, pesticides, and more than. The permit specifies the process in which these pollutants may be discharged into navigable waters such as lakes, rivers, or streams also as the technological features required to limit water pollution. Facilities with NPDES permits must maintain records, monitor pollutant discharges, and submit reports to an authorized state agency for compliance monitoring.[4] [5] [6]

Certain violations of NPDES permits can involve fines of upwards to $25,000 per 24-hour interval for the regulated entity. Negligent or knowing violations may effect in criminal enforcement as well as fines upwards to $l,000 per day, iii years' imprisonment, or both. Knowing endangerment, which include deportment that knowingly place an individual in imminent danger or produce serious actual injury, can result in fines of up to $250,000, 15 years in prison, or both.[seven]

States assume primary enforcement and administration of the let program if authorized by the EPA. As of February 2022, 46 states had master enforcement authorization over NPDES. States without their own NPDES were Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Mexico.[8]

H2o quality standards

The Clean Water Deed requires enforceable water quality standards to maintain overall water quality. Standards for bodies of water are based on the water'southward designated use; such uses include industrial water supplies, swimming, fishing, agricultural irrigation, and more than. States establish h2o quality standards for waterways within their borders, though the EPA may disapprove and replace country standards with its own if they do not come across the act'due south minimum requirements. The human activity also requires that standards outline the maximum allowable concentrations of various pollutants that would not inhibit a waterway's designated use.[v] [9]

The Clean Water Act prohibits the belch of pollutants from a indicate source of pollution (such as an industrial facility) without a let.

Nether the Make clean Water Act, state governments accept primary responsibility over establishing, reviewing, and revising water quality standards. They also monitor waterways to ensure that bodies of water run across standards. Though states have this say-so, the EPA reviews new or revised standards to determine whether they encounter minimum requirements nether the human activity. The EPA is likewise required to set water quality criteria representing specific levels of chemicals or conditions in a trunk of h2o that are not anticipated to crusade adverse effects to human and ecological health. EPA-set water quality criteria deed equally recommendations to states, though country-issued criteria must provide the same level of water quality protection as the EPA'south. States may too ready stricter water quality criteria if established nether scientifically based methods.[5] [10] [11] [12]

For waters that do not see quality standards, states utilize two additional anti-pollution methods to ensure impaired water bodies ultimately run into standards. First, states volition gear up total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), which are the maximum allowable amounts of a pollutant in impaired bodies of h2o. TMDLs are set with the goal of reducing pollution so a body of water tin can meet quality standards. Second, states volition divide the maximum allowable amount of a pollutant discharge into an dumb water amidst various pollution sources.[13] [14]

Regulation of dredged and make full material

Under the Clean Water Deed, the Ecology Protection Bureau (EPA) and the U.South. Army Corps of Engineers have primary authority over regulation of dredged and fill textile into navigable waters. The act prohibits the belch of dredged or fill up textile into waters of the U.s.a., including wetlands, without a federal permit. Dredge includes material excavated from bodies of h2o, and fill textile includes anything used for replacing an aquatic area with dry land or adjusting the bottom peak of a waterway.[15] [16] [17]

A wastewater treatment plant in Massachusetts

Activities requiring a allow include the utilize of dredged or fill materials for building a structure or an impoundment that requires rock, dirt, or sand; the apply of dredge or fill textile for industrial, commercial, recreational, and residential uses, and for sewage treatment facilities or pipes associated with power plants; the construction of dams, dikes, or levees; and more. Activities exempt from the permit programme include regular farming and ranching activities, such as "plowing, seeding, cultivating, minor drainage, and harvesting for the product of food, fiber, and forest products", and soil and water conservation practices.[18]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues dredged and make full fabric permits. Landowners whose structure activities could affect a wetland may demand to obtain a federal permit. Enforcement is held jointly by the Corps and the EPA, which may levy authoritative, civil, and/or criminal penalties for violations.[19]

Criteria used to observe whether a wetland area may exist considered the waters of the United States regulated under the dredged and fill plan can include the following:[19]

  • Areas located nearly or adjacent to rivers, streams, creeks, or swamps
  • Areas containing a pool of h2o of whatsoever size that does not flow
  • Areas located in a low-lying area, which tin can concord water for days afterwards a heavy rain
  • Areas where the level below which the basis is saturated with water is not far beneath the surface
  • Areas where aquatic plants are present

Water quality projection loans

The Clean Water Human activity of 1972 authorized federal funds to municipalities for the structure of new sewage handling plans. In the Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987, Congress established the Make clean Water Country Revolving Fund. The programme provides loans for h2o quality projects, such as municipal wastewater treatment, stormwater management, watershed projects, and estuary protection programs. The fund is also state-administered and receives revenue from both federal and state sources. For each dollar of federal funding, a state must contribute 20 cents. From 1988 to 2022, the fund distributed $118.7 billion for projects.[5] [20] [21] [22]

Enforcement

Come across besides: Enforcement at the EPA

Seal of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.svg

Similar other federal environmental statutes, the Clean Water Human activity includes provisions to address civil and criminal violations. Enforcement is shared by the EPA and states, though states generally have primary responsibility given their role in enforcing the belch permit program and water quality standards. Additionally, the EPA has oversight authorization over states and tin intervene to bring directly action against private individuals, businesses, and organizations for violations if the agency believes a state has failed to accept the necessary and appropriate action or if a country requests EPA involvement. Ceremonious enforcement involves EPA or state-initiated legal action to compel compliance with federal police force and may involve fines or penalties leveled against private parties. Criminal enforcement, which is the sole purview of the federal government, involves criminal investigation and prosecution of deliberate and/or severe violations of federal environmental law. Some violations tin result in jail time. Both types of violations are described below:[23]

  • Civil violations do not take into account if the violator knew of the violated law or regulation, while criminal violations involve a level of intent. For case, a knowing violation can include a discharge of pollutants into a river without a allow. Civil violations are based on the preponderance of the evidence, which includes whether the presented testify is convincing and more likely to be true than not. Defendants in civil suits can be establish liable either following a trial or a mutually agreed-upon settlement with the EPA or state. If found liable or agreeing to a settlement, a civil defendant may face a monetary penalty or exist required to correct the violation.[23]
  • Criminal violations must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. If bedevilled or afterwards a guilty plea, a violator may face monetary fines, exist required to reimburse the EPA for cleanup costs, or exist incarcerated. In all federal environmental laws outside statutes for toxic substances and pesticides, criminal violations are considered felonies.[23]

Recent news

The link beneath is to the most contempo stories in a Google news search for the terms Make clean Water Act. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

  • Clean H2o Act
  • State environmental policy
  • Glossary of ecology terms

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Clean Water Act (CWA) Overview," accessed September nineteen, 2022
  2. ↑ American Bar Association, "Cooperative Federalism in Environmental Police force: A Growing Role for Industry," accessed September 13, 2022
  3. ↑ U.S. Ecology Protection Bureau, "Summary of the Clean Water Act," accessed January 29, 2022
  4. ↑ U.Southward. Environmental Protection Bureau, "NPDES Permit Programme Nuts," accessed November 25, 2022
  5. ↑ v.0 5.1 v.2 5.iii Congressional Research Service, "Clean Water Act: A Summary of the Law," December 15, 2022
  6. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "NPDES Home," accessed September 23, 2022
  7. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Clean Water Act Action Plan," February 22, 2022
  8. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "NPDES Land Plan Information," accessed September xiii, 2022
  9. ↑ Environmental Protection Agency, "Federal Water Quality Standards and Requirements," accessed July 9, 2022
  10. ↑ U.S. Ecology Protection Agency, "Basic Data on Water Quality Criteria," accessed September 22, 2022
  11. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Rules and Regulations Implemented under the Clean Water Act (H2o Quality Standards)," accessed September 23, 2022
  12. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Water Quality Standards Regulations and Federally Promulgated Standards," accessed September 23, 2022
  13. ↑ Environmental Protection Agency, "Program Overview: Total Maximum Daily Loads," accessed July 6, 2022
  14. ↑ U.S. Ecology Protection Agency, "Impaired Waters and Full Maximum Daily Loads," accessed September 22, 2022
  15. ↑ Structure Industry Compliance Help Center, "Wetlands Regulations/Permits," accessed July ane, 2022
  16. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey, "Wetland Management and Research - Wetland Protection Legislation," accessed July one, 2022
  17. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Bureau, "Wetland Regulatory Authority," accessed June 22, 2022
  18. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Bureau, "Role 232: 404 Programme Definitions; Exempt Activities Not Requiring 404 Permits," accessed July ii, 2022
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.ane Thompson Coburn LLB, "Do you need a Department 404 allow for your real manor development?" September 12, 2022
  20. ↑ Cornell University Law Schoolhouse, "33 U.South. Lawmaking, Section 1381 (Grants to States for establishment of revolving funds)," accessed September 22, 2022
  21. ↑ U.South. Environmental Protection Agency, "Make clean H2o State Revolving Fund Programs (2009 Almanac Written report)," accessed September 22, 2022
  22. ↑ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Clean Water Country Revolving Fund Programs (2016 Annual Written report)," accessed September 12, 2022
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.ane 23.2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Enforcement Bones Information," accessed September 22, 2022

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