the original clean water act was passed into law in 1948.
the original clean water act was passed into law in 1948.
when was the original clean water act passed into law?
1948
technically, the name of the law is the federal water pollution control act. 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. major changes have subsequently been introduced via amendatory legislation including the clean water act of 1977 and the water quality act of 1987.









































the clean water act does not directly address groundwater contamination. groundwater protection provisions are included in the safe drinking water act, resource conservation and recovery act, and the superfund act.









































section::::background.
clean water act
also, the "clean water act" has introduced the terms "traditional navigable waters," and "waters of the united states" to define the scope of federal jurisdiction under the clean water act. here, "waters of the united states" include not only navigable waters, but also tributaries of navigable waters and nearby wetlands with "a significant nexus to navigable waters"; both are covered under the clean water act. therefore, the clean water act establishes federal jurisdiction beyond "navigable waters" extending a more limited federal jurisdiction under the act over private property which may at times be submerged by waters. because jurisdiction under the clean water act extends beyond public property, the broader definitions of "traditional navigable" and "significant nexus" used to establish the scope of authority under the act are still ambiguously defined and therefore open to judicial interpretation as indicated in two u.s. supreme court decisions: "carabell v. united states" and "rapanos v. united states". however, because authority under the act is limited to protecting only navigable waters, jurisdiction over these smaller creeks is not absolute and may require just compensation to property owners when invoked to protect downstream waters.
navigability