MORGANTOWN, WV, August 23, 2001 — A booklet titled "Water Pollution Control: Twenty-Five Years of Progress and Challenges for the New Millennium" is now available from the National Small Flows Clearinghouse (NSFC).
Developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water, this booklet discusses the Clean Water Action Plan and other ways to provide protection from public health threats posed by water pollution, including decentralized wastewater treatment (onsite) systems.
In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act (CWA) in response to public outrage over the deplorable condition of the nation's waters. This report summarizes the progress and challenges of the CWA's first 25 years, and what work remains to be done.
The basic CWA approach has been greater control of "point sources" of water pollution-primarily factories and city sewers, along with control of activities that destroy wetlands. The report details ways in which federal law and policy have been continually strengthened to clean up America's waters, including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program. Funding remains an important component of the CWA and its 1987 amendments in the form of the State Revolving Fund (SRF). Despite impressive progress, states report that close to 40 percent of the waters they surveyed are too polluted for basic uses, such as fishing or swimming. New CWA focuses are more effective control of polluted runoff and promoting water quality protection on a watershed basis.
This five-page booklet may be useful to local, state, and public health officials; managers; finance officers; state regulatory agencies; planners; operators; engineers; and the general public. The booklet is free, but shipping charges still apply. To order, call the NSFC at (800) 624-8301 or (304) 293-4191, and request Item #GNBLGN15. Readers can also may e-mail [email protected].
Funded by the EPA, the NSFC helps small communities find affordable sewage treatment options to protect public health and the environment. Anyone who works with small communities to help solve wastewater treatment problems can benefit from the NSFC's services, which include more than 450 free and low-cost educational products, a toll-free technical assistance hotline, five computer databases, two free publications, and an online discussion group. For more information, visit NSFC's Web site at http://www.nsfc.wvu.edu.
