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Control of water pollution requires appropriate infrastructure and management plans as well as legislation. Technology solutions can include improving sanitation, sewage treatment, industrial wastewater treatment, agricultural wastewater treatment, erosion control, sediment control and control of urban runoff (including stormwater management).
Beginning in the 20th century, designers of industrial and municipal sewage pollution controls typically utilized engineered systems (e.g. filters, clarifiers, biological reactors) to provide the central components of pollution control systems, and used the term "BMPs" to describe the supporting functions for these systems, such as operator training and equipment maintenance.
The Water Quality Act of 1965 required states to issue water quality standards for interstate waters, and authorized the newly created Federal Water Pollution Control Administration to set standards where states failed to do so. No mechanism for federal enforcement was established.
Increased population and industrialization after World War II meant that water quality across the United States was in a downward spiral. Catalyzed by the publication of Silent Spring and a Time (magazine) article on the pollution of America's waterway's featuring pictures of the Cuyahoga River on fire, public opinion began to shift decisively in favor of strong governmental action to abate ...
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.
Topsoil runoff from farm, central Iowa (2011). Water pollution in the United States is a growing problem that became critical in the 19th century with the development of mechanized agriculture, mining, and manufacturing industries—although laws and regulations introduced in the late 20th century have improved water quality in many water bodies. [1]
After section 208's failure to control NPS water pollution, in 1987 Congress passed the Water Quality Act which included a new section 319 to address the problem of nonpoint sources. [30] This provision, also non-regulatory, authorizes EPA to fund demonstration programs and provide technical assistance to state and local governments.
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution, and is administered by EPA and state environmental agencies. [31] Groundwater is protected at the federal level principally through: The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, through regulation of the disposal of municipal solid waste and hazardous ...