Water pollution federal legislation

The Oil Pollution Act of 1924 was the first federal statute prohibiting pollution of waters strictly by oil. As indicated earlier, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) of 1972 provided a comprehensive plan for the cleanup of waters polluted by oil spills and intentional or accidental release of oil into the water. The subsequent laws, including the Clean Water Act of 1977 and with its later amendments, provide for regulation of pollution of waters by oil spills and other forms of discharges. These legislations also incorporate certain provisions of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, which was intended to prevent any obstruction to the use of navigable waters for interstate commerce. 

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), passed by Congress on December 24, 1969, and signed into law by President Nixon on January 1,1970, mandated the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality. Congressional environmental protection legislation subsequent to NEPA included the Clean Air Act (1970), the Resource Recovery Act (1970), the Water Pollution Control Act (1972), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Amendments (1972), and others. 

In a step toward resolving numerous administrative and implementation problems with the previous water pollution legislation, the 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act restructured water pollution control under the authority of the Administrator of the US EPA. The objective of the 1972 reauthorization was to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation s waters. Initially there were two critical goals ... 

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 and as amended in 1976 (33 USC Sections 1251 to 1376) is commonly known as the Clean Water Act. The stated purpose is to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation s waters. The regulations put in place by this legislation set maximum allowable concentrations of toxicants in discharges and receiving waters. The results of toxicity testing are commonly used to determine these limits. In addition, NPDES permits now commonly require the use of toxicity tests performed on effluents from a variety of manufacturing sites to establish criteria for compliance. 

Legislation aimed at controlling water pollution continued to be introduced in Congress over the ensuing decade. Only one bill, which would have extended the oil pollution act to inland waters, even made it to the hearing stage.26 Until the New Deal arrived, impenetrable barriers stood in the way of any federal action on water pollution. 

The industry continued after the war to follow water pollution issues closely at both federal and state levels. The MCA had a nationwide system for tracking proposed state water pollution laws, and it drafted a model state statute. The main focus of the stream pollution committee shifted, however, from legislation to technology, and in 1949 its name was changed to Water Pollution Abatement Committee in view of the inclusion of ground waters in Committee activities. ... 

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