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Cleanwateractfactsheet

The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972 to address water pollution across the US. At the time, 60% of waterways were unsafe for fishing or swimming. Today that number has improved to 40% due to the Act's regulations. The goal of the Act was to restore and maintain healthy waterways. It aimed to make all waters fishable and swimmable by 1983 and eliminate all pollution discharges by 1985. States are responsible for enacting and enforcing the Act through water quality standards and permits for any entity discharging into local waterways. Citizens can get involved by commenting on water quality decisions.

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51 views

Cleanwateractfactsheet

The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972 to address water pollution across the US. At the time, 60% of waterways were unsafe for fishing or swimming. Today that number has improved to 40% due to the Act's regulations. The goal of the Act was to restore and maintain healthy waterways. It aimed to make all waters fishable and swimmable by 1983 and eliminate all pollution discharges by 1985. States are responsible for enacting and enforcing the Act through water quality standards and permits for any entity discharging into local waterways. Citizens can get involved by commenting on water quality decisions.

Uploaded by

Anjolina Bautista
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Clean Water Act Fact Sheet

9 The Clean Water Act was enacted by Congress in 1972 to address water
pollution in the US.

9 The Clean Water Act was passed when 60% of waterways in the US were not
“fishable or swimmable”. Today, because of the Clean Water Act, roughly 40%
of waterways are not “fishable or swimmable”, reflecting a 20% improvement in
the quality of our waterways.

9 Only three years before the passage of the Clean Water Act, the Cuyahoga River
in Cleveland was so polluted that it caught fire. It is believed that sparks from a
passing train ignited oil and other pollutants in the water.

9 The goal of the Clean Water Act was to restore and maintain the chemical,
physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.

9 The interim goals of the Clean Water Act were to achieve “fishable and
swimmable” waters by 1983, and eliminate all discharges of pollutants into
navigable waters by 1985.

9 According to USEPA, “fishable and swimmable” meant that a level of water


quality should be achieved “for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish,
and wildlife, and to provide for recreation in and on the water.”

9 The Clean Water Act was passed by the federal government; however, each
state is responsible for enacting it through a Water Quality Standards Program
(WQS).

9 The Water Quality Standards program acts as a road map for achieving the goals
of the Clean Water Act by doing three specific things: designating uses of
each water body in the state, establishing numeric, biological, and narrative
criteria to protect those uses, and protecting levels of good water quality in
waters that already meet their designated uses.

9 Possible designated uses of waters in your state include, primary contact


recreation (swimming), secondary contact recreation (boating and wading),
municipal water source (water to be treated for drinking water), and aquatic
habitat.

9 If a business, industry, or other entity wants to discharge into a waterway, it has


to obtain a permit from the state. The permit should limit pollution amounts
according to the water quality criteria established for the designated use of
the waterway. For example, a waste water treatment plant would not be
allowed to discharge more than 130 colonies of E. Coli (a fecal coliform bacteria)
per 100 milliliters of water into a stream designated for primary contact
recreation.

9 In the case of an interstate waterway, such as the Ohio River, a business or


industry that wants to discharge into the Ohio River must obtain a permit from
the state agency where its facility will be located. Then an interstate agency,
such as the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, will review the
permit to ensure that it meets numeric, biological, and narrative criteria that they
have established for the Ohio River.

9 If a waterway is assessed and doesn’t meet the water quality criteria established
to protect its designated use, it is considered impaired.

9 Each state is responsible for identifying and writing clean up plans for impaired
waters.

9 State and interstate agencies are required to send out public notices on water
quality decisions, including permits or changes in water quality standards. It is
your responsibility to make sure the Clean Water Act is enacted properly by
submitting your written or oral comments on water quality decisions.
Information about water quality decisions in your state can be found on your
state agency’s website.

Kentucky: http://www.water.ky.gov/
Ohio: www.epa.state.oh.us
Indiana: www.in.gov/idem

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