1987
The Water Quality Act of 1987 provides the most recent series of amendments to the CWA. Of the changes made, one of the most significant is the establishment of a $400 million program for states to develop and implement, on a watershed basis, non-point source pollution management and control programs with the USEPA responsible for administration. These amendments also establish a regulatory program for stormwater discharges.
The amendments to the 1972 CWA attempt to address non-point source pollution in Section 208 which requires the development of statewide plans, but the program meets with mixed success. The USEPA ultimately approves over 200 plans, but the overall program is never fully implemented (Tyler 1992).
The 1987 amendments represent a significant change to water pollution control. Prior to this, CWA programs have been primarily focused on point source pollution. Little attention has been given to non-point source pollution, such as stormwater runoff from agricultural lands, forests, construction sites, and urban areas, this despite the fact that such pollution represents more than 50% of the nation’s remaining water pollution problems (Copeland 1999).
Non-point source pollution is a problem because, as rainwater and snowmelt travel across the land surface towards rivers and streams, pollutants are picked up, including sediments, toxic materials, and nutrients that can degrade water quality. Remedies are more complicated for non-point source pollution because of the larger number of sources and the different types of treatment required.
Agricultural and urban runoff includes a range of contaminants - pesticides, petroleum products, sediments and silt, nutrients, and other materials carried by rainwater and eroding soils. Agricultural activities are the major source of non-point source pollution (Tyler 1992).
The Non-point Source Pollution Program is Section 319 of the 1987 Clean Water Act. Under Section 319, states, territories, and Indian tribes with an approved non-point source pollution control program receive grant money that supports a wide variety of activities including technical and financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects, and monitoring to assess the success of specific non-point source implementation projects. Section 319 requires states to submit an assessment report to USEPA that identifies state waters not meeting water quality standards, identifies the general and specific non-point sources causing the problems, describes processes for identifying best management practices to address non-point source pollution problems, and identifies programs for controlling non-point source pollution.
Under Section 319, non-point source pollution control is largely voluntary; it promotes practices to protect watersheds. Non-point source pollution is still not subject to CWA permits or other regulatory requirements under federal law. The reason lies in part with the 1972 CWA and the division of pollution into two categories of point and non-point sources. By treating them separately, different rules can be applied to each. Mandatory non-point source pollution control programs lack the political support for passage primarily because the agricultural community is strongly opposed to such regulations (Tyler 1992).
The agricultural industry works to prevent application of regulations to non-point source pollution because these would impact agricultural activities. As an example, in the mid-1970s, the USEPA exempts agricultural drains and return irrigation flows as point sources, which would then require permits for certain agricultural activities. The agricultural industry opposes the rules and files a lawsuit. This administrative decision is overturned by a federal appeals court in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Train, 568 F.2d 1369 (D.C. Cir. 1977). Following this, in 1977, the agricultural lobby uses its influence to persuade Congress to exempt agricultural discharges from the CWA rather than to have them subject to a permit program (Tarlock 2001).
