Background
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is a 1977 amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. The goal of the CWA is to make all waters fishable and swimmable and, ultimately, to eliminate discharge of pollutants into surface waters.
The CWA
- provides funding and controls for publicly owned sewage treatment works (POTWs);
- regulates discharges of pollutants into navigable waters through the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES);
- establishes requirements for development of water quality standards;
- requires preparation of Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) plans for facilities that store specified amounts of oils;
- establishes reporting requirements for spills of hazardous substances that are separate from those established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); and
- provides for regulation of nonpoint sources of pollution (i.e., storm water runoff).
Congress reauthorized the CWA in 1987. In this renewal, Congress and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused the CWA rules on toxic pollutants, authorized citizen suits, and funded new POTWs through a construction grants program.
Key Regulatory Concepts
Point Source
This is a source of water discharged to surface water through a discrete point — generally through a pipe, ditch, or channel.
Nonpoint Source
Nonpoint sources, such as parking lots or athletic fields, discharge runoff water to groundwater or surface water; runoff does not come from a pipe, ditch, or channel. These sources may contain pollutants such as pesticides, motor oil, and soaps.
Navigable Waters of the United States
For the purposes of CWA, the term “navigable waters” includes
- all waters used in commerce, including groundwater;
- all interstate waters including wetlands, mudflats, and sand-flats; and
- all other waters such as lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and sloughs.
EPA policy states, “The majority of facilities in the U.S. have the potential to discharge to navigable waters.” However, the Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v United States (2006) requires the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to determine whether there is a “significant nexus” between a navigable waterway and an area a spill might affect.
In June of 2007, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers released provisional interpretive guidance regarding the “significant nexus” question. According to this guidance, the agencies will assert jurisdiction over traditional navigable waters, wetlands adjacent thereto, and relatively permanent tributaries thereof. The agencies will generally not assert jurisdiction over swales and ditches that lack routine water flow. Finally, the agencies will apply the “significant nexus” requirement and make a case-by-case, fact-specific analysis on impermanent tributaries and other wetlands.
Best Management Practices
These are practices and activities that prevent pollutants from entering navigable waters of the United States. These are state-of-the-art practices, which change over time.
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
The TMDL is the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive while still meeting water quality standards. The calculation must include a margin of safety and account for seasonal variation in water quality.
Does this apply to my campus?
Specific requirements of the CWA apply to most campuses. Storage and use of oils may incur requirements under the SPCC program. POTWs may require alternative waste management practices or specific agreements. Point source discharges to navigable water may require a permit.
See Clean Water Act — Oil Spill Prevention (SPCC), Clean Water Act — Sewer Use (POTW), Clean Water Act — Discharge Permits, and Clean Water Act — Stormwater.
What do I have to do?
The CWA requires facilities that discharge to the navigable waters of the United States (such as power plants and hazardous waste treatment storage and disposal facilities) to obtain an NPDES permit.
To comply with their own discharge limits, POTWs may need to implement a pretreatment program and/or sewer use ordinances. In these cases, facilities served by the POTW must restrict what they discharge to the sanitary sewer.
Certain other activities, such as construction projects larger than 1 acre, require an NPDES permit for stormwater discharge.
The CWA requires preparation of an SPCC plan for some facilities.
See Clean Water Act — Oil Spill Prevention (SPCC), Clean Water Act — Sewer Use (POTW), Clean Water Act — Discharge Permits, and Clean Water Act — Stormwater.