Clean Water Program
 Our Clean Water Program monitors facilities that
hold water discharge permits in the Mid-Atlantic region and takes steps
to bring violators into compliance. As part of this project, the Center
conducts reviews of the compliance records of hundreds of facilities in
Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. Recently, the Center's
focus has been on facilities that discharge into the Schuykill and Delaware
River watersheds. Several facilities we have reviewed show significant
strain due to operation at capacity or near capacity levels from the tremendous
rate of development in these areas. We are providing legal services to
several different environmental organizations to bring problem facilities
back into compliance.
Section
303 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (“Clean
Water Act” or “CWA”) enunciates the efforts that states
must make in order to maintain water quality and to eliminate pollution.
Section 303(c) requires states to develop, review, and when necessary,
revise water quality standards (“WQSs”) at least once every
three years. Section 303(d) requires states to identify waters which
have insufficient controls to meet the above mentioned WQSs. These waters
are called water quality limited segments (“WQLSs”). Furthermore,
section 303(d) requires states to establish pollution controls plans
for each WQLS – known as total maximum daily loads or “TMDLs” – that
establish the maximum amount of pollutants which may be released from
point, non-point, and natural sources to ensure that those waters will
eventually comply with applicable WQSs. To integrate these measures,
section 303(e) requires states to develop and implement a Continuing
Planning Process (“CPP”) for water quality management.
Unfortunately, until the mid 1990s, the requirements of CWA section
303 had been ignored in the Mid-Atlantic States. Starting in 1996, the
Center – on behalf of the Sierra Club, the American Littoral Society
(“ALS”) and others – began a series of lawsuits to
improve water quality and implement section 303 in Delaware, New Jersey,
and Pennsylvania. Since that time, the Center’s work in this field
has expanded to include Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well
as Puerto Rico and Florida.
In
addition, the Center also initiates litigation from time to time
challenging the issuance of National Pollution Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) Permits and other water permits under the Clean Water
Act or its state counterparts. Some of these actions are also
discussed in the section below.
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