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Environmental Law

1997

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

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Still Dirty After Twenty-Five Years: Water Quality Standard Enforcement And The Availability Of Citizen Suits, Michael P. Healy Jan 1997

Still Dirty After Twenty-Five Years: Water Quality Standard Enforcement And The Availability Of Citizen Suits, Michael P. Healy

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

When Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, it established a pollution control regime that imposed a baseline level of technology-based pollution control, and was designed to ensure that water quality would not fall below certain standards. Twenty-five years after the enactment of the Clean Water Act, success may be claimed with regard to technology-based controls. Achieving water quality standard (WQS) compliance has proved much more difficult. Indeed, evaluated from a variety of perspectives, the enforcement of the water quality-based system of pollution control must be viewed as a failure.

In light …