With the Clean Water Act of 1972, the United States federal government assumed a primary role in the control of water pollution. A reworking of the Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, the 1972 Clean Water Act was amended in 1977 and 1987. In 1972, the
U.S. Congress passed the Water Pollution Control Amendments; these became known as the Clean Water Act. The objective of this Act was to restore and maintain the quality of American waters. To this end, the Act contained several provisions: it prohibited the discharge of toxic pollutants; it mandated that the federal government provide funding for publicly owned waste treatment plants without annual Congressional appropriation action; it required that the states begin water
pollution control planning; and it established research programs intended to further eliminate water pollution. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was immediately to publish guidelines for secondary water treatment, to publish a list of toxic pollutants, and to set standards for each substance. The 1972 Act also set deadlines for compliance with stricter pollution requirements, and it authorized the
Army Corps of Engineers to issue reasonable-discharge permits. Revisions to the Act were passed in 1977. These were made necessary by the low level of compliance with the secondary treatment requirements set in place by the EPA. The 1977 Act gave states more authority, extended various deadlines, and mandated that the EPA expand its list of pollutants in need of regulation. The Water Quality Act of 1987 further expanded the Clean Water Act. Because of the number of
unsuccessful projects and their cost to the federal government, the federal grant program was to be gradually eliminated and state programs slowly set in place. The 1987 Act also dealt further with toxic pollutants, requiring the EPA to set standards for them in sewage sludge. The Act also developed requirements for acquiring storm-water permits. In addition, the law demanded the identification of waters that could not meet federal standards even with proper control and
called for additional control in these sites. The final amendments resulted in a demand for more government permits, thereby draining EPA and state government budgets. Problems also remain because states must individually fund measures to meet the standards set in place by the federal acts. As a result, states now feel that they must be given more power in adapting the law to their individual situations. The text of the law Water Quality WebQuest | 
