1972 U.S. federal law regulating water pollution
Clean Water Act |
| Other short titles | Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 |
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| Long title | An Act to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. |
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| Acronyms (colloquial) | CWA |
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| Enacted by | the 92nd United States Congress |
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| Effective | October 18, 1972 |
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| Public law | 92-500 |
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| Statutes at Large | 86 Stat. 816 |
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| Acts amended | Federal Water Pollution Control Act |
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| Titles amended | 33 U.S.C.: Navigable Waters |
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| U.S.C. sections created | 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251–1387 |
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| U.S.C. sections amended | 33 U.S.C. ch. 23 § 1151 |
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- Introduced in the Senate as S. 2770 by Edmund Muskie (D–ME) on October 28, 1971
- Committee consideration by Senate Public Works Committee
- Passed the Senate on November 2, 1971 (86-0)
- Passed the House on March 29, 1972 (passed)
- Reported by the joint conference committee on October 4, 1972; agreed to by the House on October 4, 1972 (366-11) and by the Senate on October 4, 1972 (74-0)
- Vetoed by President Richard Nixon[1] on October 17, 1972
- Overridden by the Senate on October 17, 1972 (52-12)
- Overridden by the House and became law on October 18, 1972 (247-23)
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| Clean Water Act of 1977; Water Quality Act of 1987; Clean Boating Act of 2008; Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014; America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 |
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- EI duPont de Nemours & Co. v. Train, 430 U.S. 112 (1977)
- Costle v. Pacific Legal Foundation, 445 U.S. 198 (1980)
- EPA v. Nat'l Crushed Stone Assn., 449 U.S. 64 (1980)
- City of Milwaukee v. Illinois, 451 U.S. 304 (1981)
- Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U.S. 305 (1982)
- Chemical Manufacturers Assn. v. NRDC, 470 U.S. 116 (1985)
- United States v. Riverside Bayview, 474 U.S. 121 (1985)
- Department of Energy v. Ohio, 503 U.S. 607 (1992)
- PUD No. 1 of Jefferson Cty. v. Washington Dept. of Ecology, 511 U.S. 700 (1994)
- Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. Army Corps of Engineers, 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
- Borden Ranch Partnership v. Army Corps of Engineers, 537 U.S. 99 (2002)
- South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee Tribe, 541 U.S. 95 (2004)
- S. D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection, 547 U.S. 370 (2006)
- Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 715 (2006)
- National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, 551 U.S. 644 (2007)
- Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper Inc., 556 U.S. 208 (2009)
- Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, 557 U.S. 261 (2009)
- Sackett v. EPA I, 566 U.S. 120 (2012)
- Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 568 U.S. 78 (2013)
- Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, 568 U.S. 597 (2013)
- Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., No. 15-290, 578 U.S. ___ (2016)
- National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, No. 16-299, 583 U.S. ___ (2018)
- County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, No. 18-260, 590 U.S. ___ (2020)
- Sackett v. EPA II, No. 21-454, 598 U.S. ___ (2023)
- City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, No. 23-753, ___ U.S. ___ (2025)
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The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibilities of the states in addressing pollution and providing assistance to states to do so, including funding for publicly owned treatment works for the improvement of wastewater treatment; and maintaining the integrity of wetlands.[2]
The Clean Water Act was one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws. Its laws and regulations are primarily administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in coordination with state governments, though some of its provisions, such as those involving filling or dredging, are administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its implementing regulations are codified at 40 C.F.R. Subchapters D, N, and O (Parts 100–140, 401–471, and 501–503).
Technically, the name of the law is the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.[3] The first FWPCA was enacted in 1948, but took on its modern form when completely rewritten in 1972 in an act entitled the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972.[4][1] Major changes have subsequently been introduced via amendatory legislation including the Clean Water Act of 1977[5] and the Water Quality Act (WQA) of 1987.[6]
The Clean Water Act does not directly address groundwater contamination. Groundwater protection provisions are included in the Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Superfund act.
- ^ a b Rinde, Meir (2017). "Richard Nixon and the Rise of American Environmentalism". Distillations. 3 (1): 16–29. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ Jim Hanlon, Mike Cook, Mike Quigley, Bob Wayland. "Water Quality: A Half Century of Progress." EPA Alumni Association. March 2016.
- ^ See U.S. EPA, Summary of the Clean Water Act ("Clean Water Act" is the law's "common name," including link to Senate version of the Act with proper title).
- ^ United States. Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. Pub.L. 92-500, October 18, 1972.
- ^ Clean Water Act of 1977. Pub.L. 95-217, December 27, 1977.
- ^ Water Quality Act of 1987. Pub.L. 100-4, February 4, 1987.
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