The CWA and the water pollution problem

• Author: Jeffrey G. Miller/Ann Powers/Nancy Long Elder/Karl S. Coplan
• Pages: 1-12

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Chapter I:

THE CWA AND THE WATER

POLLUTION PROBLEM

A. INTRODUCTION

is casebook explores water pollution and the federal statute chiey

designed to control it, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA)

better known as the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251-1387.

e C WA is not t he only statute controlling water pollution. e Marine

Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Ac t (MPRSA), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1401-

1445 (2012), reg ulates the transportation of pollutants for disposal at sea;

and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 42 U.S.C. §§300f to 300j-26,

regulates the purity of drinking water. Other environmental statutes regulate

water pollution incidental ly. e Resource Conservation and Rec overy Act

(RCRA), 42 U.S.C. §§6901-6992k, for instance, regulates water pollution

insofar as it is also a ha zardous waste under t hat statute. All of these federal

statutes have their state counterparts. Moreover, the process of administering

the statutes is governed in part by still other statutes, e.g., the Administrative

Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §§551-706 (2012).

us, a web of interlocking statutes regulates water pollution control. e

study of water pollution control regulation, therefore, is a study of statutes

and their administration. But before this legislation was enacted, the com-

mon law dealt with disputes arising when one party polluted water to the det-

riment of another, evoking primarily the law of nuisance and trespa ss. Tort

law continues to play a role in water pollution, adjudicating disputes between

parties for damages c aused by water pollution, even as the government use s

its regulatory statutes to control water pollution for the public good.

is casebook will examine how water pollution is addressed, rst by the

common law and then by statute. Before either examination can take place,

however, t he student must have some understanding of what constitutes

water pollution, where it originates, and how it can be controlled. e fol-

lowing sections focus on these questions.