Plastic Pollution: Is The Clean Water Act Effective?

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary US law that governs pollution control and water quality in the country's waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is tasked with implementing pollution control programs and setting wastewater standards for industry and water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The CWA makes it unlawful to discharge pollutants from a point source into navigable waters without a permit. The EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls these discharges. The CWA also establishes a list of toxic pollutants, which includes plastic, and a Priority Pollutant List, which provides individual chemical names for practical testing and regulatory purposes.

Is plastic considered a pollutant under the Clean Water Act?

The Clean Water Act (CWA)

The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters unless a permit is obtained. The EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls these discharges. The EPA issues technology-based effluent guidelines that establish discharge standards based on available and economically achievable treatment technologies. Each EPA region issues permits that meet or exceed these guidelines and standards. The EPA also funds the construction of sewage treatment plants and addresses the critical problems posed by nonpoint source pollution.

The CWA does not specifically address groundwater contamination, which is covered by other laws such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. However, the EPA's Office of Water (OW) ensures drinking water safety and maintains aquatic ecosystems to protect human health and support economic and recreational activities.

The CWA includes a list of toxic pollutants, which was first published in 1978 and subsequently added to and amended. The Priority Pollutant List was developed to make the list of toxic pollutants more practical for testing and regulation, as it lists individual chemical names rather than broad categories. The CWA also includes regulations for oil pollution prevention and response, with requirements for government and industry contingency planning under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan.

Toxic Pollutant List

The Toxic Pollutant List was developed in 1976 and added to the Clean Water Act (CWA) by Congress in 1977. The list was intended to be used as a starting point for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states to ensure that Effluent Guidelines regulations, water quality criteria, and standards, and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements addressed the problems of toxics in waterways. The CWA establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.

The Toxic Pollutant List consists of broad categories of pollutants rather than individual pollutants. For instance, the list contains groups of pollutants such as "chlorinated benzenes," which contain hundreds of compounds. As there is no test for the group as a whole, it is not practical to regulate or test for all the compounds. Therefore, the EPA developed the Priority Pollutant List in 1977 to make the implementation of the Toxic Pollutant List more practical for water testing and regulatory purposes. The Priority Pollutant List includes individual chemical names, making it more practical for testing and regulation.

The EPA used four criteria to select and prioritize specific pollutants from the Toxic Pollutant List:

• Include all pollutants specifically named on the Toxic Pollutant List.
• Ensure there is a chemical standard available for the pollutant to enable testing.
• The pollutant must have been reported as found in water with a frequency of occurrence of at least 2.5%.
• The pollutant has to be reported as found in water.

The Toxic Pollutant List is referenced in the CWA at Section 307(a)(1); 33 U.S.C. 1317(a)(1) and appears in the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR 401.15. The list was first published on January 31, 1978, in the Federal Register and was added to the CFR at 40 CFR 401.15 on July 31, 1979. The list initially contained 129 entries, but three pollutants were removed in 1981, reducing the number of entries to 126. The EPA continues to update and modify the lists to ensure their relevance and effectiveness in addressing water pollution issues.

Priority Pollutant List

The Clean Water Act (CWA) was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Act was significantly reorganised and expanded in 1972 and established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into US waters. Under the CWA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has implemented pollution control programs, such as setting wastewater standards for industry.

The Toxic Pollutant List was developed in 1976 and added to the CWA by Congress in 1977. This list was a starting point to ensure that Effluent Guidelines regulations, water quality criteria, and standards were met. However, the list consisted of broad categories of pollutants rather than individual pollutants. As a result, the EPA developed the Priority Pollutant List in 1977 to make the implementation of the Toxic Pollutant List more practical for water testing and regulatory purposes.

The Priority Pollutant List is a set of identified chemical pollutants that are regulated by the EPA. The list contains 65 entries of toxic pollutants, including groupings of pollutants. The EPA has published analytical testing methods for manufacturers to determine the presence and toxicity of these chemicals. The Priority Pollutant List is more practical for testing and regulation as it lists chemicals by their individual chemical names, as opposed to the open-ended groups of pollutants on the Toxic Pollutant List. For example, the group "chlorinated benzenes" contains hundreds of compounds, and it is not practical to test or regulate all of these compounds.

The EPA used four criteria to select and prioritize specific pollutants for the Priority Pollutant List:

• All pollutants specifically named on the list of toxic pollutants.
• A chemical standard must be available for the pollutant to enable testing.
• The pollutant must have been reported as found in water with a frequency of occurrence of at least 2.5%.
• The pollutant must have been produced in significant quantities.

EPA's role in implementing pollution control programs

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a crucial role in implementing pollution control programs in the United States. One of its primary missions is to regulate and control water pollution, as outlined in the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA establishes a national framework for addressing water quality, including mandatory pollution control standards, which the EPA implements in partnership with individual states. The EPA has developed programs, policies, and regulations to control water pollution and improve water quality.

Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA has implemented several pollution control measures. Firstly, they have set wastewater standards for industries, ensuring that pollutants discharged into waterways meet certain criteria. The EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls these discharges, making it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters without a permit. The EPA also developed the Priority Pollutant List, which identifies specific chemical pollutants to make the regulation and testing of toxic pollutants more practical and effective. This list complements the broader Toxic Pollutant List, which serves as a starting point for ensuring that Effluent Guidelines regulations, water quality criteria, and NPDES permit requirements address the issue of toxics in waterways.

In addition to its work under the CWA, the EPA has contributed to pollution control through various other programs. For example, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 mandated that the EPA develop mandatory federal standards for all public water systems, serving 90% of the US population. The EPA has also established the "One Cleanup Program" initiative to improve coordination across different agency programs involved in site cleanups, such as brownfields and Superfund sites. Furthermore, the EPA has programs focused on reducing air pollution, such as Clean School Bus USA, which aims to reduce children's exposure to diesel exhaust and decrease air pollution from school buses.

The EPA also plays a role in providing information and guidance to other agencies. They review environmental impact statements prepared by other agencies and maintain a national filing system for these statements. Additionally, the EPA has the authority to gather information on chemicals and require producers to test them, as outlined in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This enables the EPA to regulate chemical production and use, ensuring the environmentally sound management of waste.

Climate change is an emerging factor that influences the EPA's role in pollution control. It exacerbates existing pollution problems and impacts the nation's land, air, and water. The EPA is working to address these challenges by considering the current and future impacts of climate change in its programs, policies, and rule-making processes. This includes exploring the connections between air, water, waste, and other programs, as former administrator William Ruckelshaus noted, to ensure a comprehensive approach to environmental protection.

NPDES permits and requirements

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and sets quality standards for surface waters. The CWA makes it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters without a permit. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) controls these discharges through its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program.

The NPDES permit program includes any type of industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into the water. Some examples include dredged soil, solid waste, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, chemical wastes, biological materials, and radioactive materials.

The EPA issues NPDES permits for a five-year period, which are subject to renewal for subsequent five-year periods. There are two types of NPDES permits: individual and general. An individual permit is written to reflect site-specific conditions of a single discharger (or in rare instances, multiple co-permittees) based on information submitted by that discharger in a permit application. A general permit, on the other hand, is written to cover multiple dischargers with similar operations and types of discharges based on the permit writer's professional knowledge of those activities and discharges. General permits allow for streamlining the permitting process for similar activities.

The NPDES administrative procedures require that the public be notified and allowed to comment on NPDES permit applications. The EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online tool can be used to search for facilities in a community and review their monitoring reports, which are public documents. If a facility is found to be violating its NPDES permit, a member of the public can independently start a legal action unless the EPA or the state regulatory agency has already taken enforcement action.

In terms of enforcement, federal laws provide the EPA and authorized state regulatory agencies with various methods to take action against violators of permit requirements. For example, the EPA and state agencies may issue administrative orders requiring facilities to correct violations and pay monetary penalties. They can also pursue civil and criminal actions, including mandatory injunctions, penalties, and jail sentences for those found willfully violating requirements and endangering public health and the environment.

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