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The Clean Water Act - What You As A
Business Owner Should Know.
The Clean Water Act was first introduced as the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act in 1948.
Since then, it has been amended as late as 2002
in an effort to draw attention to, and to
enact laws which would curtail the
polluting of waters and to adhere to regulations as
established by law to
further prevent degradation of our water supply.
The following is the “Declaration of Goals and Policies” as it relates to the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act amended on November 27, 2002 by the House of
Congress.
“Section 101. (a) The objective of this Act is to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical,
and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. In order to
achieve this objective, it is herebydeclared that, consistent with the
provisions of the Act-
1. it is the national goal that the discharge of pollutants into the navigable
waters be eliminated;
2. it is the national goal that wherever attainable, an interim goal of water
quality which provides or the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish,
and wildlife and provides for recreation in
and on the water;
3. it is the national policy that the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic
amounts be prohibited;
4. it is the national policy that Federal financial assistance be provided to
construct publicly
owned waste treatment works;
5. it is the national policy that area-wide treatment management planning
processes be
developed and implemented to assure adequate control of sources of
pollutants in each State;
6. it is the national policy that a major research and demonstration effort be
made to develop
technology necessary to eliminate the discharge of pollutants
into the navigable waters, waters
of contiguous zone and oceans,; and
7. it is the national policy that programs for the control of nonpoint sources
of pollution be
developed and implemented in an expeditious manner so as to
enable the goals of this Act
to be met through the control of both point and nonpoint sources of pollution.”
According to the EPA “…in the early decades of the Act's implementation, efforts
focused on
regulating discharges from traditional "point source" facilities,
such as municipal sewage plants
and industrial facilities, with little attention
paid to runoff from streets, construction sites, farms,
and other "wet-weather"
sources. Starting in the late 1980s, efforts to address polluted runoff
have
increased significantly. For "nonpoint" runoff, voluntary programs, including
cost-sharing
with landowners are the key tool. For "wet weather point sources"
like urban storm sewer systems
and construction sites, a regulatory approach is
being employed.”
In 1987, Congress voted to enact the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).
This fund
allowed the EPA to offer grants to states and the states would then
provide loans for nonpoint
source projects such as: “Homeowners for repair and
upgrade of septic systems; land trusts
for purchase of sensitive
lands/easements; purchase and restoration of degraded wetlands;
dry cleaners to
clean-up soil and ground water contamination on brown fields; and farmers for
equipment and structures to minimize runoff from fields.
It should be noted that as of 2001, over $1.4 billion was expended for these
particular projects.
Considering the goals and policies of congress as stated
above and the subsequent funds the
Congress found suitable for the EPA to offer
in grant money to resolve many of the problems
attributing to the pollution of
waters in the US; one would have to question why we have neither
prevented nor
reduced the amount of polluted waters in the US?
Products that can help you comply with the Clean Water Act are spill
kits, spill containment berms,
absorbent booms and
storm water products.
You may use this article on your site as long as the links
remain.
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