Officials expect the Clean Water Act to continue to evolve as technologies — and the risk of more pollution — change the needs of waterway and water source protection. United States Army Corps of Engineers et al. Wastewater treatment systems are among those most impacted by the Clean Water Act.
Water systems, too, have felt the impact of the regulations and policies set forth in this Act. Its constant change sometimes can cause headaches when it comes to keeping up with the latest regulations. But its impact — and the needs it still must address — have not gone unnoticed by government officials. On Oct. However, Congress also acknowledged a drastic need among water systems.
Hopefully, with that evolution will come more ways to help water and wastewater systems maintain their quality by repairing or replacing problem infrastructure. If so, it may make it easier to do what the Act intended: Maintain a supply of usable drinking water and a source of recreation and enjoyment for years to come. Toggle navigation. Resource Library. About the Clean Water Act. Publications and Resources.
Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts. Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to sweeping amendments in The CWA is the principle law governing pollution control and water quality of the Nation's waterways.
The object of the CWA is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation's waters 33 U. The CWA establishes conditions and permitting for discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System NPDES and gave the Environmental Protection Agency EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry and water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters.
Under Sections , , , and of the CWA, the EPA issues technology-based effluent guidelines that establish discharge standards based on treatment technologies that are available and economically achievable. Each EPA Region issues permits that meet or exceed the guidelines and standards. It also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under the construction grants program and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by nonpoint source pollution.
The EPA regulates all waste streams generated from offshore oil and gas activities, primarily by general permits. The EPA may not issue a permit for a discharge into ocean waters unless the discharge complies with the guidelines established under Section c of the CWA. The intent of these guidelines is to prevent degradation of the marine environment and require an assessment of the effect of the proposed discharges on sensitive biological communities and aesthetic, recreational, and economic values.
Direct dischargers an OCS operator, for example must comply with the effluent limitations guidelines and the new source performance standards in the NPDES permits; indirect dischargers must comply with the pretreatment standards. The most recent effluent limitations guidelines for the oil and gas extraction point-source category were published in Existing point source dischargers exploratory wells and grandfathered development and production facilities are regulated using technology-based effluent limitations guidelines ELG [40 CFR Part ].
Regulated wastes include drilling fluids and cuttings, produced water, sanitary wastes, and deck drainage among others. Three broad categories of pollutants are identified in the guidelines: conventional, toxic, and non-conventional, which are described below. The level of required discharge control is dependent on the category of the pollutant.
Conventional pollutants are contained in the sanitary wastes of households, businesses, and industries. These pollutants include fecal coliform, total suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand, pH, and oil and grease e.
Toxic pollutants are pollutants or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the Administrator of EPA, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions including malfunctions in reproduction or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring.
Toxic pollutants also include those pollutants listed by the Administrator under CWA Section a 1 or any pollutant listed under Section d which relates to sludge management.
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