The Clean Water Act (CWA), is founded upon the prohibition of the discharge of pollutants to navigable waters. Point source discharges are regulated by the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. The CWA allows for states to adopt water quality standards and administer the NPDES program in accordance with the EPA’s guidelines and oversight. The NPDES program identifies all wastewater discharges into publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and storm water discharges that affect water quality.
