The Clean Water Act, officially titled the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S. §§1251 – 1387, provides a comprehensive system for the regulation of pollutants in the waters of the United States with the objective of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. This act was originally adopted in 1948 and has been amended numerous times before arriving at its present form. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the primary federal agency assigned with the enforcement of the Clean Water Act. The EPA works in conjunction with state environmental agencies and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in regulating and enforcing the Clean Water Act. The Corps is involved more specifically in the wetlands portion of the act. Though the scope of the Clean Water Act is very broad, the focus of this section is on that part of the act which most directly relates to livestock farmers and producers. This is the issue of water quality standards.

The Clean Water Act gives the states the authority to establish water quality standards for their waters. The EPA must approve all water quality standards and may promulgate water quality standards where no agreement can be reached with a state. The monitoring of bodies of water to determine if the water quality standards are being met is left up to the state. Monitoring water quality is done by taking random samples and using these results to generate statistical reports about the water quality of a body of water. The Clean Water Act requires that states send reports to the EPA detailing known information about bodies of water and a list of waters that do not meet their water quality standards.

The issue of whether or not livestock farms are directly subject to the Clean Water Act has been hotly debated over the past years with the outcome varying widely. Until recently, state law in California exempted farmers from the state’s Clean Water Laws. Farmers and livestock producers were not required to apply for or receive permits even if their farm was directly connected to a body of water. Now, California farmers must cope with the added burden of complying with the act and going through the process of applying for and receiving necessary permits. Additionally, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York recently ruled that a cow farm that does not discharge into a waterway cannot be needlessly made to comply with regulations under the guise of the EPA’s Clean Water Act. The Court noted that farmers go to great lengths to protect the environment and found that there are effective regulations in place in the states and in the EPA to protect the quality of water. The bottom line when dealing with the Clean Water Act is to be familiar with the environmental rules and regulations governing the state in which one plans to operate.

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