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Reference Library

The founding document as written, a plain overview of the seven Articles, and a glossary of archaic and legal terms.

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Environmental Protection

Clean Water Act

Enacted: 1972

Signed into law by

Richard Nixon (vetoed; overridden by Congress)

In brief

Prohibited the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters without a federal permit and set the goal of eliminating water pollution.

The Act in depth

Enacted over Richard Nixon's veto on October 18, 1972, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments — universally known as the Clean Water Act — made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into 'waters of the United States' without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by EPA (or an authorized state). The statute's reach depends on what counts as 'waters of the United States,' a definition litigated repeatedly (Rapanos v. United States, 2006; Sackett v. EPA, 2023).

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