"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe ."
-John Muir
Founder,
Sierra Club
Environmental Librarian
Current Environmental Issue
The 1990 CAA Amendments supplemented the original act by addressing more issues - urban pollution, ozone depletion, acid rain and others. Today state and local governments work with the EPA to implement this legislation.
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation takes the lead in enforcement and development of the regulations. If you access this page, you will find information on all aspects of outdoor and indoor air quality- air toxics, acid rain, ozone, radon, vehicle emissions, urban air and radiation.
Surface Water
Surface water is an
important source of drinking water, agricultural irrigation, and cooling for
industrial operations. The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1970, amended in
1987, regulates the discharge of pollutants into these waters by issuing
permits and settings standards for the quality of wastewater discharges.
Wetlands are valuable ecosystems, important to fish and wildlife, and are protected under the CWA. Oceans, coasts, estuaries and watersheds are all surface waters.
To
learn more about the EPA's efforts to protect
these valuable resources, you can access the
Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Ground Water
Most of America's drinking water comes from ground water. Federal statutes that authorize ground water protection include the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund law).
