HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL
The Clean Water Act Owner’s Manual
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is a 50-year-old law that was a transformational update to federal water quality laws enacted as far back as the turn of the twentieth century (see p.14 Evolution of the CWA). This Owner’s Manual was originally created to share the many ways that every person can improve water quality where they live. It has helped them track, influence, and change the way the law is implemented at federal, state, and local levels. Over the 20+ years since the first edition was published, thousands of people have used it to apply the Clean Water Act to problems they faced in their communities and watersheds.
3 rd Edition River Network
Laws are a product of the time in which they are passed and express the viewpoints and knowledge of those who draft them. We are in a fundamentally different time than 1972 when the CWA was passed, when untreated sewage, rendering wastes, and countless industrial chemicals were often dumped directly into rivers. While those issues have been directly addressed, we still face sewage and chemical pollution in addition to existential challenges. The lawmakers of the 1970s did not foresee how the CWA would be applied inequitably in different communities. Yet it has. Nor did lawmakers perceive the early warning signs of climate change or predict how they would complicate application of the Act. Yet they have. As we explain the CWA’s tools, we have paid close attention to how exposures to pollution sources—and the unjust application of the Act—have disproportionately harmed certain communities. The CWA gives us the power to correct these injustices. We also highlight numerous consequences of climate change and how our response to them will require changes to how we implement the CWA.
The sections of the Manual are as follows: Featured Communities In the earliest pages, we introduce five featured communities, the pollution sources they are exposed to, and the CWA programs that have been or can be applied in those situations. You will also find more thorough accounts of their stories on River Network’s website. We will refer to them several times in the relevant CWA program areas. Objective, Goals, and Application of the Act Our starting point for CWA advocacy is to understand the Objective and Goals of the Act and the waters they protect, as well as how the various CWA programs work together. Problems and Strategies for Action Part 1 guides the reader to the CWA programs that are most commonly used to address specific problems. These problem descriptions are meant to be representative, not comprehensive. Because the Clean Water Act is not implemented, nor does it succeed, in a vacuum, references are made to Part 3 where other federal and state laws that are or should be coordinated with CWA programs are briefly explained.
Clean Water Act Programs Part 2 dives into the details of several CWA program areas. In each of those areas, sidebars provide: statute, regulatory, and case law citations; deeper explanations of concepts introduced in the narrative; important considerations of equity and justice; and ways to take climate change into account. Throughout the subparts, ideas for taking action are suggested in “Action Checklists.” Coordination with Other Federal (and some state) Laws Part 3 briefly summarizes many federal laws, and some state versions of those laws, which are used in coordination with CWA strategies and have been mentioned in Part 1. Finding the Information You Need This chart summarizes where you can find data and information that will help you engage with the Clean Water Act programs. Glossary Many terms and acronyms have specific meaning within the context of the CWA. The Glossary compiles definitions that will help you engage effectively with the opportunities for comments, public hearings, and appeals.
In the following pages, you will find icons that are explained in the “Quick Reference” sidebar, p. 9. These icons will direct your attention to details or references for what is written in the narrative.
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