The Clean Water Act was a policy enacted in 1972 and is known as the first major water pollution law in the US (EPA). In areas where polluted water represented a booming economy, there were certain events that skyrocketed the movement and pushed for regulations regarding water management and pollutant discharge within waters.   

Agenda Setting  

Some believe the push for cleaner and more regulated water sources started with an infamous river fire on the Cuyahoga River in 1969 (Stradling). The fire burned for less than half an hour on the oil slick water and caused damage to two railroad threstles. What was interesting in the initial coverage of this event, however, was that the river being on fire was not mentioned at all. This may be because rivers on the Cuyahoga were nothing new (Smithsonian). It wasn’t until 2 months later that the fire was mentioned in Time magazine, describing the river as “oozing rather than flowing” (Stradling). The magazine added a photo of a boat that had caught fire on the river 17 years earlier, but despite this fact and whether they knew the photo was outdated or that the photo would garner attention, the latter was certainly true, and a movement began. The story caught the eyes of National Geographic, who added to the dramatization of this event with false facts, but the eyes of the nation were now on this industrial issue. The Environmental Protection   Agency was the first federal bureau to regulate pollution policies and was created in 1970 (Smithsonian), and in April of that year, university students marched down the river on the nation’s first Earth Day. 

Policy Formulation 

One of the key actors in pushing for clean water policies before the fire was Mayor Carl Stokes (US Water Alliance). Stokes entered office in Cleveland Ohio in 1968 and pushed for better water management, which included debris removal and sewage systems (NPS). A 100 million cleanup bond was passed by Cleveland voters later that year. Stokes even traveled to Washington D.C. to proclaim the importance of clean water on the economy to the House Appropriations Commitee, referencing the improvements in Cleveland. Credit for the Clean Water Act goes to Senator Edmund Muskie, who stressed that unpolluted water was necessary for our survival (Burns). Muskie worked for 10 years to pass this bill, and it was passed even when Nixon tried to stop it by using a veto (Mize).  

Policy Adoption and Implementation 

The passing of the Clean Water Act was definitely a bipartisan effort, and the roll call in the House for the bill was 366-7 and the Senate roll call was 74-0. Nixon attempted to veto the bill under the notion that the price was too high, but an override of the veto was 247-23 (Capitol Visitor Center). One of the main implementers of this policy was the EPA. According to the National Agricultural Law Center, the EPA is the major implementer of the policy and issues permits for most pollutant discharges,To while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers works to issue permits for fill and dredge material into waters. While there was a lot of support for the Clean Water Act, criticisms arose surrounding the budget being too high for the benefits, as there isn’t any substantial evidence that the act itself has decreased water pollution in more recent times (Adler et al. 1993).  

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, created under the EPA, is a program that was created to control pollutant discharges. Funding is provided through the Clean Water Act to supply grants to fund wastewater projects at both the state and federal level (Arkansas Dept. Of Agriculture). Projects include public water supply, flood and erosion control, as well as solid waste disposal. Because of the aid that the policy provides to water management within communities, the benefits outweigh the costs in my opinion. Although there is not enough evidence supporting the decrease in water pollutants, I believe that water quality and management is vital for a healthy community.  

Policy Evaluation 

There have been recent constitutional issues surrounding the policy, and that would include regulations of our nation’s wetlands (Totenberg). In May of this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of limiting the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to enact statues to limit pollution. Wetlands are described as a “transitional area between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems” (Gokce). This transitional area is very critical for the environment that it is in and provides many benefits to the local ecosystem. Wetlands near urban areas have been subject to pollutants which damage the biodiversity of the landscape. Justice Samuel Alito argued that the Clean Water Act protects rivers, oceans, streams, and lakes, but not wetlands.  Some may argue that the EPA has not been able to solve the issues that the policy was created for, however there has been positive change because of the association in terms of regulation. Issues that have not been met include the long-standing problems of funding upgrades to aging water infrastructure (Genesis Water Technology).  

Policy Change 

The Clean Water act has gone through amendments in 1987 and 2000 to implement toxic pollutant protections and daily maximums (EPA). The 1987 amendment addressed sewer system provisions through the Water Quality Act. 

 This policy was a great step forward in the environmental scope, and its importance should be commended despite the policy’s criticisms. I believe that if the funding issue was adressed, there would be more support and more visible change withing the pollutants that are in our water systems today. 

Citations 

Adler, R W, J C Landman, and D M Cameron (1993), The Clean Water Act 20 Years Later, NRDC. 

“Carl Stokes: A Pioneer of Environmental Justice (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, http://www.nps.gov/articles/000/carl-stokes-a-pioneer-of-environmental-justice.htm. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.  

The Clean Water Act – U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/lesson-plan/clean-water-act.pdf. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023.  

“Clean Water Act Overview.” National Agricultural Law Center, 20 July 2023, nationalaglawcenter.org/overview/cw/#:~:text=The%20Environmental%20Protection%20Agency%20(%E2%80%9CEPA,Engineers%20(%E2%80%9CCorps%E2%80%9D. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023.  

Gökçe, Didem. Wetlands Management: Assessing Risk and Sustainable Solutions, IntechOpen, London, 2019, pp. 1–4.  

History of the Clean Water Act | US EPA, http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/history-clean-water-act. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023.  

“History of the Clean Water Act.” US Water Alliance, 3 Oct. 2023, uswateralliance.org/resources/history-of-the-clean-water-act/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023. 

Jay Burns   —   Published on October 14, 2022. “Audio: Hear the Powerful Voice of Edmund Muskie ’36, Who Launched the Clean Water Act 50 Years Ago.” News, 17 Oct. 2022, http://www.bates.edu/news/2022/10/14/audio-hear-the-powerful-voice-of-edmund-muskie-36-who-launched-the-clean-water-act-50-years-ago/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023. 

Magazine, Smithsonian. “The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire at Least a Dozen Times, but No One Cared until 1969.” Smithsonian.Com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 June 2019, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/cuyahoga-river-caught-fire-least-dozen-times-no-one-cared-until-1969-180972444/.  

Simon, Ellen. “The Bipartisan Beginnings of the Clean Water Act.” Waterkeeper, 9 Dec. 2019, waterkeeper.org/news/bipartisan-beginnings-of-clean-water-act/.  

Stradling, David, and Richard Stradling. “Perceptions of the Burning River: Deindustrialization and Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River.” Environmental History, vol. 13, no. 3, 2008, pp. 515– 35. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25473265. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023. 

Sullivan, J. “Fifty Years of Cleaner Water.” Island Journal, 23 Mar. 2023, http://www.islandjournal.com/history/fifty-years-of-cleaner-water/. Accessed 23Oct. 2023. 

Summary of the Clean Water Act | US EPA, http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.  

Tech, Genesis Water. “What Municipalities Do to Address Aging Water Infrastructure?” Genesis Water Technologies, 7 Sept. 2023, genesiswatertech.com/blog-post/what-municipalities-do-to-address-aging-water-infrastructure/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023. 

Totenberg, Nina. “The Supreme Court Has Narrowed the Scope of the Clean Water Act.” NPR, NPR, 25 May 2023, www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1178150234/supreme-court-epa-clean-water-act. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023. 

“Water and Wastewater Funding.” Arkansas Department of Agriculture, 6 July 2023, www.agriculture.arkansas.gov/natural-resources/divisions/water-development/water-and-wastewater-funding/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.