Successes
National Youth Watershed Summit
Click on the logo above for information about the Year of Clean Water.
Click on the logo above for EPA's Year of Clean Water Web site.
Background and History
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (PL 92-500) were enacted on October 18, 1972.
The Clean Water Act embodies a philosophy of federal/state partnership in which the federal government (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) sets the agenda and standards for pollution abatement, while the states carry out day-to-day activities of implementation and enforcement.
Certain responsibilities are delegated to the states, including authority to issue discharge permits to industries and municipalities, to enforce permits, and to establish water quality standards.
Significant funding was provided for grants to plan and construct municipal wastewater treatment facilities. States were encouraged to conduct basin planning and area-wide planning.
Under Section 106, states were allocated grants to administer various provisions of the Act.
Goals and Policy:
That the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters be eliminated by 1985;
That wherever attainable, an interim goal of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water be achieved by July 1, 1983;
That the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts be prohibited;
That federal financial assistance be provided to construct publicly owned waste treatment works;
That area-wide waste treatment management planning processes be developed and implemented to assure adequate control of sources of pollutants in each state;
That a major research and demonstration effort be made to develop technology necessary to eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters; and
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.
For more information about the history of the Clean Water Act and for links to the Act itself, see this Web site: Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 (Clean Water Act).
History of Clean Water Act Efforts in Kentucky
