Water Enforcement by the USEPA: The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act

Access to clean water is something most people take for granted-until a crisis hits. Behind the scenes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works tirelessly to ensure that America’s waterways remain unpolluted and that tap water stays safe to drink. Two landmark pieces of legislation give the EPA its enforcement authority: the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Together, these laws form the backbone of federal water protection in the United States, governing everything from industrial wastewater discharges to the quality of water flowing from your kitchen faucet.

The Clean Water Act: comprehensive pollution control 🔗

The Clean Water Act, enacted in 1972, established a comprehensive framework for regulating pollutant discharges into U.S. waters. The law’s primary goal is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. To achieve this, the EPA implements several interconnected programs that target different sources of water pollution.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 🔗

The cornerstone of CWA enforcement is the NPDES permit program. This system regulates point sources-identifiable discharge locations like pipes from factories or treatment plants-that release pollutants into waters of the United States. Any facility that discharges directly into waterways must obtain an NPDES permit before operating.

NPDES permits function as legally binding agreements between regulators and facility operators. Each permit sets specific limits on what pollutants can be discharged, establishes monitoring and reporting requirements, and includes provisions to ensure discharges don’t harm water quality or public health. Permits are typically valid for up to five years, after which facilities must reapply.

The program provides two levels of pollution control. Technology-based limits require facilities to use the best available treatment technologies to reduce pollutant discharge. Water quality-based limits kick in when technology-based controls alone aren’t sufficient to protect the receiving water body. This dual approach ensures that both practical treatment capabilities and environmental protection goals are addressed.

While the EPA maintains oversight authority nationwide, the agency has authorized 47 states and one territory to implement their own NPDES programs. States like New Mexico, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire remain under direct EPA implementation, as do federal facilities and operations in Indian Country.

Stormwater management 🔗

Stormwater pollution occurs when rain washes debris, chemicals, sediment, and other contaminants from urban areas and construction sites into storm drains, which then flow directly into nearby waterways. Unlike wastewater that gets treated before discharge, stormwater often reaches rivers and streams with minimal treatment.

The CWA requires industrial facilities, construction sites, and municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) to obtain NPDES permit coverage for their stormwater discharges. Covered entities must develop Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) or Stormwater Management Plans (SWMPs) and implement measures to prevent pollutants from entering runoff. The EPA conducts regular inspections and audits to verify compliance with these requirements.

Industrial pretreatment program 🔗

Not all industrial waste goes directly into waterways-much of it flows into municipal sewer systems and gets processed at publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs). However, industrial discharges containing metals, oil and grease, and other specialized pollutants can overwhelm municipal treatment processes, leading to inadequately treated effluent reaching local waterways.

The National Pretreatment Program addresses this challenge by ensuring that commercial and industrial facilities-from dry cleaners and gas stations to food service establishments-properly treat their waste before discharging to municipal systems. Facilities must meet pretreatment standards that prevent their discharges from passing through POTWs untreated or interfering with treatment processes.

Oil spills and wetland protections 🔗

The CWA also addresses pollution from spills and improper land development. Oil and hazardous substance spills can devastate ecosystems, contaminating food sources and nesting habitats. Petroleum-based tars can persist in the environment for years. The law prohibits harmful spills and requires facilities to implement spill prevention, control, and countermeasure plans.

For wetlands protection, the EPA works alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to regulate discharges of dredged or fill material. Wetlands provide critical ecosystem services-filtering pollutants, reducing flooding, and supporting wildlife-so unauthorized filling or dredging carries significant penalties.

The Safe Drinking Water Act: protecting public health 🔗

While the Clean Water Act focuses on surface water quality, the Safe Drinking Water Act safeguards the nation’s drinking water supply. Originally passed in 1974 and significantly amended in 1986 and 1996, the SDWA applies to all waters actually or potentially used for drinking purposes, whether sourced from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, or groundwater wells.

Setting health-based standards 🔗

The EPA establishes National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs) for contaminants that may pose public health risks. For each regulated contaminant, the agency sets a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG)-an aspirational, non-enforceable health target-and a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), the legally enforceable limit that public water systems must meet.

The EPA has established protective standards for more than 90 contaminants, including microorganisms, chemicals, and radionuclides. The 1996 amendments strengthened these protections by requiring EPA to consider detailed risk and cost assessments, along with the best available peer-reviewed science, when developing new standards.

For some contaminants where precise measurement is difficult or impractical, the EPA establishes Treatment Techniques (TTs)-enforceable procedures that water systems must follow to remove or reduce the contaminant. These performance-based standards ensure protection even when exact concentration limits are impractical.

In a landmark recent action, the EPA established the first-ever nationwide, legally enforceable drinking water standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-so-called “forever chemicals” that have contaminated water supplies across the country.

Underground injection control 🔗

Groundwater provides drinking water for millions of Americans, making its protection essential. The SDWA’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) program regulates the construction, operation, permitting, and closure of injection wells to prevent contamination of underground drinking water sources.

The program classifies injection wells into six categories based on what they inject and where. Class I wells handle hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste; Class II covers oil and gas production fluids; Class III involves mining operations; Class IV addresses hazardous or radioactive waste; Class V encompasses all other injection wells; and Class VI manages carbon dioxide geological sequestration. The EPA has granted UIC primacy authority to 34 states for most well classes, while managing Class VI wells directly nationwide.

Compliance through monitoring 🔗

Effective enforcement requires robust monitoring. Under the SDWA, public water systems must regularly test their water and report results to primacy agencies-the state, tribal, or territorial authorities that have primary enforcement responsibility. These reports provide the data needed to ensure that drinking water standards are being met.

When monitoring reveals contaminant levels exceeding standards, primacy agencies and the EPA work with water systems to remove contaminants and notify consumers so they can make informed choices. The Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) maintains records of violations and enforcement actions, making compliance information accessible to the public.

Compliance monitoring and enforcement partnerships 🔗

Neither the CWA nor the SDWA can function effectively without strong compliance monitoring. The EPA works with federal, state, and tribal partners to verify that regulated entities meet their legal obligations. This collaborative approach leverages resources across multiple levels of government while maintaining consistent national standards.

Inspection and data review 🔗

For the NPDES program, compliance monitoring encompasses a range of techniques. Inspectors review Discharge Monitoring Reports submitted by facilities, conduct on-site compliance evaluations, and provide assistance to enhance permit compliance. The NPDES Compliance Inspection Manual guides how these inspections are conducted, ensuring consistency across jurisdictions.

For drinking water systems, the EPA led 238 community water system inspections in fiscal year 2024, coordinating with primacy agencies, plus 133 offsite compliance monitoring activities including record reviews and remote interviews. The agency’s National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative for Drinking Water aims to increase field presence, take impactful enforcement actions, and offer more compliance assistance to prevent public health risks.

Enforcement tools 🔗

When violations occur, the EPA has multiple enforcement options. Administrative orders can require violators to come into compliance within specified timeframes. Civil enforcement actions can impose penalties and mandate corrective actions. Criminal enforcement addresses the most egregious violations involving willful or knowing misconduct.

The SDWA also grants the EPA emergency powers when contaminants present imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and state authorities haven’t acted. These powers extend to protecting underground drinking water sources, including potential future supplies and even private wells.

Climate-resilient enforcement 🔗

Climate change presents unprecedented challenges for water infrastructure. Sea level rise threatens coastal treatment facilities, intensifying storms overwhelm sewer systems, and droughts stress drinking water supplies. Recognizing these realities, the EPA has integrated climate resilience into its enforcement framework.

In June 2024, the EPA issued a memorandum updating its framework for addressing climate vulnerabilities in water enforcement remedies. The goal is to ensure that remedies in CWA and SDWA enforcement actions remain effective despite climate impacts like flooding, drought, and sea level rise that will increasingly affect water infrastructure.

Practical applications 🔗

The framework has already produced tangible results. In a 2022 settlement with Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority, the city agreed to incorporate climate adaptation best practices for sewer system upgrades, including raising elevations and adding resiliency measures for 500-year storm events based on post-Hurricane Sandy FEMA standards.

Similarly, America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 requires community water systems serving more than 3,300 people to complete risk and resilience assessments (RRAs) and emergency response plans (ERPs). These assessments must evaluate risks from natural hazards, including those exacerbated by climate change. The SDWA Section 1433 requirement ensures that water systems proactively plan for threats ranging from extreme weather to cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

The EPA also provides technical assistance through its Compliance Advisors for Sustainable Water Systems program, offering one-on-one support to help water systems achieve and sustain environmental compliance while building resilience to climate impacts.

Looking ahead 🔗

The EPA’s enforcement of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act represents one of the most consequential environmental protection efforts in American history. Since the CWA’s passage in 1972, waterways once considered dead zones have recovered, and over 92 percent of Americans served by community water systems now receive water meeting all health-based standards at all times.

Yet challenges remain. Aging infrastructure requires massive investment-EPA estimates put drinking water infrastructure needs at $473 billion and wastewater needs at $271 billion over 20 years. Climate change adds urgency to these upgrades. And emerging contaminants like PFAS require new regulatory approaches.

The success of water enforcement ultimately depends on partnerships-between federal and state agencies, between regulators and utilities, and between government and communities. By maintaining robust enforcement while building climate resilience, the EPA aims to protect water resources for generations to come.

What do you think? As climate impacts intensify and infrastructure ages, how should communities balance the costs of water system upgrades against the public health benefits? And what role should local residents play in monitoring and protecting their water supplies?

References

1. https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/clean-water-act-section-402-national-pollutant-discharge-elimination-system
2. https://www.epa.gov/sdwa
3. https://www.epa.gov/npdes/about-npdes
4. https://www.epa.gov/compliance/clean-water-act-cwa-compliance-monitoring
5. https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-safe-drinking-water-act
6. https://www.epa.gov/compliance/safe-drinking-water-act-compliance-monitoring
7. https://echo.epa.gov/help/sdwa-faqs
8. https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/national-enforcement-and-compliance-initiative-increasing-compliance-drinking-water-0
9. https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/addressing-climate-vulnerabilities-water-enforcement-remedies
10. https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/incorporating-climate-adaptation-enforcement-and-compliance-actions