The Clean Air Act is slowly making a difference in improving US water quality. Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) some control of water polluters is attained. Combined with Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) water quality is slowly improving. The information and links in the article will give you a handle on the Clean Air Act and TMDL/DPDES Comparison.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal statute governing water pollutant discharges in the U.S Its largely symbolic and long past due goals include eliminating discharges of toxic levels of pollutants into US waters by 1985 and ensuring that surface waters would be fit for human sports and recreation by 1983. Despite egregious delays in meeting these goals, the CWA has been effective in reducing discharges of pollutants and improving the nation's water quality.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with implementing the mandates of the CWA. The EPA has established discharge level standards for 56 industry categories that include 35,000-45,000 facilities or point sources of discharges directly into public waterways, plus another 12,000 facilities that discharge into public water treatment facilities. The EPA's regulatory efforts have reduced discharges of toxic materials into the nation's water supplies by an estimated 700 billion pounds of pollutants per year.
The EPA issues permits to discharge regulated pollutants under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Permits are required for point sources of discharges, such as pipes and man-made ditches, operated by industrial, municipal, and other entities the discharge pollutants directly into public waterways. Homes, businesses, and other entities that discharge pollutants into water treatment facilities do no require permits.
The NPDES permit activity is managed by the States except in Alaska, New Hampshire, Idaho, Massachusetts, and New Mexico. Also under direct EPA management are NPDES programs in the District of Columbia and various small US territories or possessions, such as American Samoa and Midway Island.
Enforcement actions under the NPDES can range from warning letters to fines of up to $275,000 per day of continued violation of permit conditions, and even criminal prosecutions for willful violations. A "strict liability" standard is used in determining violations. It need not be proven that a violation was willful or that the violator was even aware of its violation. Permit holders are liable for results, period.
Citizen lawsuits are authorized under the CWA, too. Citizens can learn who is discharging pollutants into their local watersheds' what is being discharged' and how much of each pollutant is being discharged through their state NPDES programs or the EPA. Open records acts in all States enable citizens to locate polluters' NPDES permit records, compare the conditions of the permits to actual discharges, and thereby identify and document violations of permits. Permit holders' files may contain consent orders binding legal agreements between the NPDES program and the permit holders to do specific things to fix specific violations. Failures to comply with permit conditions or the terms of consent orders provide citizens with grounds for civil lawsuits to compel compliance and punish non-compliance.
In addition to meeting NPDES standards for specific pollutants, discharge sources must also adhere to Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standards to the total amounts of all pollutants discharged into public waterways. A TMDL is the maximum amount of all pollutants that a body of water can absorb daily while still meeting water quality standards set by States, territories, and authorized Native American tribes. Over 40 percent of regulated waters still do not meet the water quality standards set for them.
The CWA authorizes NPDES programs regulating point sources of specific toxic pollutants, and the TMDL programs regulating overall water quality. Federal and State water quality control agencies are chronically short of resources to enforce CWA requirements. Vigilant and vigorous citizen actions are essential to keeping water polluters under control.
