Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972-1987)

Congress enacts the Rivers and Harbor Act in 1896 and recodifies it in1899 to protect navigation by prohibiting the disposal of any kind of material other than “liquid refuse flowing from streets and sewers” (Moreau 1991). This Act is also referred to as the Refuse Act. Its original purpose is to protect navigation and not water quality.

It is not until 1948 that Congress recognizes the threat that dirty water poses to public health and passes the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). This Act broadens the Federal government’s authority over water pollution control and provides minimal funding for states to build wastewater treatment facilities.

In the 1960s, the Rivers and Harbors Act is rediscovered as a legal means to protect water quality. The courts expand the interpretation of the law to include wastewater discharges from industrial sources. In 1970, President Nixon establishes by executive order a permit program administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE), with assistance from the USEPA. Failure to comply with permit conditions allowed for the filing of Federal lawsuits. This “Refuse Act” permit program fails for a host of reasons (Moreau 1991):

• Industry opposes the regulations because they increase their costs;
• States oppose the program because 45 states already have industrial permit programs, and the program infringes on states’ rights;
• Environmental organizations oppose it because it is viewed as a license to pollute;
• Municipal sewage is exempt from the permitting requirements;
• Administrative bottlenecks occur as the number of applications swamps the USACOE; and
• Court interpretations become a burden to the program; one, for example, requires an environmental impact statement for each permit.

Expansions of Federal authority over water pollution occur with legislation in 1956, 1965, 1966, and 1970 (USEPA 1972). These changes only complicate the issue of water pollution control by creating a “hodgepodge” of laws, plus 11 reorganizations of federal agency responsibilities regarding water pollution make it difficult to implement the law. These problems are resolved in 1972 with amendments to the FWPCA which restructure authority for water pollution control and consolidate authority with USEPA (USEPA 1972). With these amendments, the federal government assumes responsibility for the quality of the nation’s water supply for the first time. Up to this point, water pollution control is exclusively the domain of state governments.

There are conflicting reports as to which set of amendments is referred to as the “Clean Water Act.” Some sources cite the FWPCA Amendments of 1972 as the Clean Water Act (Environmental Careers Organization 2003, USEPA 1972); others wait and refer to the changes in 1977 as the Clean Water Act (USEPA 2003), and at least one source uses both titles to describe the FWPCA amendments in1972 (Copeland 1999). It appears that “Clean Water Act” is the term often used to include amendments to the FWPCA from 1972 through 1987; therefore, in this chapter, the term “Clean Water Act” is used to refer to changes beginning with the FWPCA amendments in 1972.