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Lawmaker As Lawbreaker: Enforcement Actions Against Municipalities For Failing To Comply With The Clean Water Act, G. Nelson Smith Iii

Cleveland State Law Review

The Clean Water Act makes it unlawful for anyone, including municipalities, to discharge a pollutant into navigable waters except as authorized by specific sections of the Act. To implement this prohibition, as well as the exceptions, the Act established a complex system regulating all discharges into the navigable waters of the United States. Under the Act, the discharge of pollutants without a permit or in violation of a permit condition may result in civil penalties and/or a criminal penalty per day per violation. While these penalties could be extremely costly for municipalities, the problem becomes even more severe because many …