For a half century, the Clean Water Act has been the nation's leading water pollution control law. When it passed the modern Clean Water Act in 1972, Congress intended federal and state agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work together to minimize, and ultimately eliminate, water pollution by 1985. While the country has fallen significantly short in meeting this goal, the Clean Water Act has prevented significant water pollution – and we and our waterways are much healthier for it.
To put the importance of the Clean Water Act into a broader context, prior to its passage, the nation’s waters were so polluted from industrial waste that some were catching fire. Ohio’s Cuyahoga River infamously caught fire in 1969, but it had done so at least a dozen times before. These fires sparked a public movement for environmental health, safety, and protection and eventually led to the establishment of the EPA and, three years later, the landmark Clean Water Act.
Since its passage, the Clean Water Act has undergone numerous amendments, court interpretations, and varied implementation across political administrations. To highlight some of the major current issues with the enforcement, implementation, and plain language of the law, the Center for Progressive Reform has published a new policy brief, aiming to help policymakers and advocates prioritize necessary reforms to the law.
The Clean Water Act’s 50th Anniversary: Nine Key Reforms for Clean Water Today notes that, despite the progress we've made in improving water quality nationwide, half of the country’s waterways are still impaired by pollution. The continued destruction of the nation’s wetlands, the realities of climate change, and the introduction of new and emerging pollutants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and various pharmaceuticals only compound the water pollution hazards that people and wildlife face.
Nine Key Ways to Reform the Clean Water Act
To ensure continued cleanup and protection of our nation’s waters in the face of these threats, our brief recommends that:
The health of the nation’s waterways depends on the successful implementation and enforcement of an updated and upgraded Clean Water Act. While our recommendations are critical and urgent, we recognize that our current polarized politics may delay reform. For this reason, we present these recommendations as aspirations for the future — and hope they are no longer needed when the act reaches its next milestone birthday.
By taking the steps proposed in our policy brief, environmental agencies at the state and federal levels can move our nation closer to meeting the goal of clean, safe, and healthy water for all.
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Katlyn Schmitt | November 17, 2022
For a half century, the Clean Water Act has been the nation's leading water pollution control law. When it passed the modern Clean Water Act in 1972, Congress intended federal and state agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to work together to minimize, and ultimately eliminate, water pollution by 1985. While the country has fallen significantly short in meeting this goal, the Clean Water Act has prevented significant water pollution – and we and our waterways are much healthier for it.
Dave Owen | November 10, 2022
In one of Tuesday’s least surprising outcomes, California voters reelected Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. It wasn’t close. This might seem interesting only if you’re predicting the 2024 presidential primaries. But Newsom’s reelection has broad significance for climate policy and law, both in California and beyond. Think for a moment about traditional arguments against responding to […]
Daniel Farber | November 3, 2022
Well over a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it had power to remedy interstate water pollution. That was in 1901. Six years later, the Court decided its first air pollution case. Notably, these cases came during the conservative Lochner era when the Court was hardly known for its liberalism. Quite the contrary. Yet the Court didn't hesitate to address pollution issues.
Karen Sokol | October 13, 2022
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian climate scientist Svitlana Krakovska was working from her home with international colleagues to finalize the second installment of the latest report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “I started to think about the parallels between climate change and this war, and it’s clear that the roots of both these threats to humanity are found in fossil fuels,” she told The Guardian. “This is a fossil fuel war. It’s clear we cannot continue to live this way; it will destroy our civilization.”
Catalina Gonzalez | October 12, 2022
This is the third post in a three-part series on recent efforts to place justice and equity at the center of California’s climate plans. Read the first and second posts. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and champions of environmental justice in the state legislature and advocacy community are cheering the recent passage of a series of new laws that […]
Rachel Mayo | October 12, 2022
Our climate is changing quickly — and outpacing our nation’s ability to prevent or prepare for disruptions to our energy system. And, as is so often the case in the wake of natural disasters, low-wealth people and communities of color, who contribute the least to climate change, are most at risk. Hurricane Ian, which last […]
Catalina Gonzalez | October 11, 2022
This is the second post in a three-part series on recent efforts to place justice and equity at the center of California’s climate plans. The first post and third post are also available on our blog. Environmental justice advocates are calling on California regulators to strengthen protections for underserved and overburdened communities — which are disproportionately […]
Catalina Gonzalez | October 10, 2022
This is the first post in a three-part series on recent efforts to place justice and equity at the center of California’s climate plans. Part II and Part III will run October 11 and 12. In a major victory for climate justice, California regulators recently announced significant improvements to the statewide plan, the AB32 2022 Scoping Plan Update, to […]
Allison Stevens | October 6, 2022
From Florida’s sea-battered coast to small mountain communities in landlocked Kentucky, nowhere, it seems, is safe from flooding these days. Even California’s Death Valley — the arid trough in the Mojave Desert known as “the hottest place on earth” — saw record floods this year. Flooding is, of course, nothing new. The story of human civilization is […]