Summary of the Clean Water Act | US EPA

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and ... Skiptomaincontent Officialwebsitesuse.gov A.govwebsitebelongstoanofficialgovernmentorganizationintheUnitedStates. Secure.govwebsitesuseHTTPS Alock(LockAlockedpadlock)orhttps://meansyou’vesafelyconnectedtothe.govwebsite.Sharesensitiveinformationonlyonofficial,securewebsites. Laws&Regulations ContactUs SummaryoftheCleanWaterAct QuickLinks 2018 versionof CWAfromtheU.S.Code(233 pp,1.23MB) TheofficialtextoftheCWAcontinuestobeavailableintheUnitedStatesCodefromtheUSGovernmentPrintingOffice 33U.S.C.§1251etseq.(1972) TheCleanWaterAct(CWA)establishesthebasicstructureforregulatingdischargesofpollutantsintothewatersoftheUnitedStatesandregulatingqualitystandardsforsurfacewaters.ThebasisoftheCWAwasenactedin1948andwascalledtheFederalWaterPollutionControlAct,buttheActwassignificantlyreorganizedandexpandedin1972."CleanWaterAct"becametheAct'scommonnamewithamendmentsin1972. UndertheCWA,EPAhasimplementedpollutioncontrolprogramssuchassettingwastewaterstandardsforindustry.EPAhasalsodevelopednationalwaterqualitycriteriarecommendationsforpollutantsinsurfacewaters. TheCWAmadeitunlawfultodischargeanypollutantfromapointsourceintonavigablewaters,unlessapermitwasobtained: EPA'sNationalPollutantDischargeEliminationSystem(NPDES)permitprogramcontrolsdischarges. Pointsourcesarediscreteconveyancessuchaspipesorman-madeditches. Individualhomesthatareconnectedtoamunicipalsystem,useasepticsystem,ordonothaveasurfacedischargedonotneeda NPDESpermit; Industrial,municipal,andotherfacilitiesmustobtainpermitsiftheirdischargesgodirectlytosurfacewaters. ComplianceandEnforcement CleanWaterActComplianceMonitoring:investigationsandinspections WaterEnforcement HistoryofthisAct EPAHistory:FederalWaterPollutionControlActAmendmentsof1972 EPAHistory:CleanWaterAct MoreInformation  TheOfficeofWater(OW)ensuresdrinkingwaterissafe,andrestoresandmaintainsoceans,watersheds,andtheiraquaticecosystemstoprotecthumanhealth,supporteconomicandrecreationalactivities,andprovidehealthyhabitatforfish,plants,andwildlife. TheEPAWatershedAcademyprovidestrainingcoursesonstatutes,watershedprotection,andotherkeyCleanWaterActresources. ContactUstoaskaquestion,providefeedback,orreportaproblem.