Opinion ID: 2798554
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Water Pollution Control and the Clean Water Act

Text: Long-standing concerns over contamination of New York's and the nation's waters have led to over a century of governmental controls and prohibitions on water pollution. As far back as 1903, New York State prohibited sewage and waste - 1 - - 2 - No. 48 discharge into public waters (see L. 1903, ch. 468). There was also early federal concern with contamination of New York's water, as reflected by Congressional passage of laws in 1886 and 1888 prohibiting discharges of certain pollutants and refuse into New York Harbor (see L. 1886, ch. 929, § 3). The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 was the first statute to consolidate these and other prior federal prevention efforts, in order to establish nationwide water pollution controls. The Act prohibited discharge of any refuse matter of any kind or description whatsoever, into any navigable water of the United States without approval or a permit form the United States Army Corps of Engineers (see William L. Andreen, The Evolution of Water Pollution Control in the United States-State, Local, and Federal Efforts, 1789-1972: Part II, 22 Stan Envtl LJ 215, 220 [2003]; Section of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law, American Bar Association, The Clean Water Act Handbook, at 1 [3d Edition] [hereinafter Clean Water Act Handbook]). Water pollution, however, remained unabated and continued to present serious public health issues (see Andreen at 222; 9 N.Y.Prac., Environmental Law and Regulation in New York § 6:2 [2d ed.]). Congress eventually passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1948 (FWPCA) to address stream pollution which, as a result of World War II, had intensified due to increased industrial activity and dramatically lower - 2 - - 3 - No. 48 expenditures on wastewater treatment (Andreen at 235). Under the FWPCA, the states bore primary responsibility for water pollution within their jurisdictions, and federal enforcement was limited (see Andreen at 238; see also 80 Cong. Ch. 758, June 30, 1948, 62 Stat. 1155). Over time, Congress amended the FWPCA to provide financial assistance to municipalities in the form of grants to construct sewage treatment plants and to shore up federal enforcement (see Andreen at 240; 62 Stat. 1158). As national concern increased over environmental degradation and the adverse impacts of water pollution on society and the economy, Congress established the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (see Water Quality Act of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-234, 79 Stat. 903), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (see 42 USC § 4321 [Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 establishing the EPA]). It also enacted the Water Quality Act of 1965 and the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970. This administrative and regulatory framework was intended to ensure the adoption and enforcement of appropriate water quality standards and pollution controls. After these efforts failed to protect the nation's waters from dangerous levels of contamination, or to halt the continued decline of water quality, Congress passed a comprehensive revision and recodification of the FWPCA in 1972 (see Pub. L. No. 92-500, October 18, 1972 86 Stat. 816 [codified as amended at 33 USC §§ 1251-1376 (2000)]). These amendments - 3 - - 4 - No. 48 form the basis for what is best known as the Clean Water Act.