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.