Clean Water Act

From Beachapedia

Clean Water Act

Water quality is of the utmost importance to the beach-going public, and maintaining it is one of the major goals of the Surfrider Foundation. The Clean Water Act is the national law most applicable to water quality, and was created by Congress to help maintain and protect the nation’s waters for drinking, swimming, fishing, and surfing.

The Clean Water Act (“CWA”) is one of the most important environmental laws in the country, and one that Surfrider deals with on an almost daily basis. In 1972, Congress promulgated the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments, which was renamed the Clean Water Act in 1977. The Act was passed in order to protect, “restore, and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity” of the United States’ surface waters.[1] By placing regulations on sources of water pollution, the Clean Water Act attains and maintains a level of water quality that supports the “protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife” and “recreation in and on the [United States’] waters.”[2] In an effort to control water pollution, the CWA outlaws discharge of pollutants from any “point source.”

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“Point source” refers to any “discrete conveyance” which includes but is not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, landfill leachate collection system, concentrated animal feeding operation (“CAFO”), or spillway that can transport pollutants into waterways.[3] “Nonpoint source” (including “urban runoff”) is water that drains over land and reaches waterways from diffuse surface areas. Urban runoff is water that drains off of any urban area during both dry weather and wet weather.


Non Point Source Pollution has been shown to be a leading cause of water pollution in rivers and oceans and is a frequent cause of beach closures. In response to this problem, the CWA was amended in 1987 to require medium and large municipalities to obtain NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for storm water discharges. The stormwater discharges are actually considered point sources because the water is collected and discharged via a "discrete conveyance".[4] Although fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides are known to be major sources of pollution, agricultural stormwater discharges are specifically exempted from Clean Water Act permit requriements.[5]

Section 404 and 401

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for activities that would result in the discharge of fill into waterways and wetlands. The Corps’ 404 jurisdiction includes all waters which are used in interstate or foreign commerce; all interstate waters (including wetlands, lakes, rivers); and wetlands connected to navigable bodies of water. Section 401 of the CWA allows states to determine whether a Section 404 permit issued by the Corps complies with state water quality standards.

Section 401(a) of the Clean Water Act states that for any applicant for a Federal permit to conduct any regulated activity (e.g. construction, discharge, etc.) within navigable waters shall provide the permitting agency (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a Coast Guard permit or license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) with a certification from the State in which the project is located that any such discharge will comply with the applicable provisions of Sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 of the Clean Water Act. This State certification is referred to as "Section 401 Water Quality Certification."

Applicants receiving a section 404 permit are required to obtain a section 401 water quality certification from the local state agency that oversees 401 certifications. Issuance of a certification means that the state anticipates that the applicant's project will comply with state water quality standards and other aquatic resource protection requirements under the state’s authority. The 401 Certification can cover both the construction and operation of the proposed project.

For Section 404 permitting the Corps has developed general permits to streamline the permitting process for specific activities. The Corps reviews a proposed project to determine if an individual 404 permit is required, or if the project can be authorized under a general permit. The general permits may also need 401 Certification from states. Some states have already approved, denied or partially denied specific general permits.

The trigger for 401 Certification is applying for a federal permit or license to conduct any activity that might result in a discharge of dredge or fill material into water or non-isolated wetlands or excavation in water or non-isolated wetlands as defined in the CWA.



The article "Trickle Down" Environmentalism appeared in the March-April 2003 issue of Surfrider Foundation's Making Waves. This article discusses how Federal legislation such as the Clean Water Act "trickles down" to the states and local communities and how such legislation translates into local activism.


Clean Water Act Case Study: Surfrider Foundation’s Early Victory against Humboldt Pulp Mills documents one of Surfrider's most significant victories that utilized the power of the Clean Water Act.


Also see EPA summary of the Clean Water Act

References

  1. 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.
  2. 33 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2).
  3. 33 U.S.C. § 1362(14).
  4. 33 U.S.C. §§ 1342(p), 1362(14); 40 C.F.R. § 122.26.
  5. 33 U.S.C. § 1362(14).



This article is part of a series on Clean Water which looks at various threats to the water quality of our oceans, and the negative impacts polluted waters can have on the environment and human health.

For information about laws, policies, programs and conditions impacting water quality in a specific state, please visit Surfrider's State of the Beach report to find the State Report for that state, and click on the "Water Quality" indicator link.


This article is part of a series on the Ocean Ecosystem looking at the various species of plants and animals which depend on a healthy coast and ocean environment, and the threats that can be posed to them by human activity

For information about laws, policies and conditions impacting the beach ecology of a specific state, please visit Surfrider's State of the Beach report to find the State Report for that state, and click on the "Beach Ecology" indicator link.