环境科学与工程原理 14页(水质管理法规)2012.2.15日校对.doc

Legislation and Regulation of Water Quality Management in the United StatesDrinking WaterThe Safe Drinking water Act of l974 was the first legislation aimed at providing safe water for consumption rather than for discharge into waterwaysIn this legislation，Congress directed the EPA to establish drinking water standards for public water systems serving 25 0r more people or having 15 0r more service connectionsIn l975，the EPA published the Interim Drinking Water Regulations In l980,Congress added a provision to prohibit underground injection of wastes without a permitMajor modifications were added in l986 with the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act AmendmentsThe amendments converted the interim regulations to permanent status；established enforcement responsibility；prohibited the use of lead pipes，solder, and fluxes；and moved to protect sole source aquifers The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of l996 strengthened and expanded the protection of drinking water by providing grants for compliance and enforcement，enhanced water system capacity, operator training，and development of solutions to source pollutionIn addition，it provided for public notification of violations within 24 hours(rather than 2 weeks under the old act)，and annual reporting of levels of regulated contaminants to consumersRelief from analysis of contaminants that have never been found and are unlikely to occur was given to reduce ana1ytical costsEPA was funded to conduct research on health effects and treatment for arsenic，radon，and CrytosporidiumIn addition，EPA was required to develop a screening program to identify the risks posed by substances that have an effect similar to that produced by naturally occurring estrogen and to screen pesticides and other chemicals for estrogenic effectsWater Pollution ControlThis discussion follows that of L. Ortolano in Environment Planning and DesignPrior to 1948，the principal responsibility for controlling water pollution was assumed by the states and by various local and regional agenciesThe first institutions to deal with water pollution problems were created soon after the “sanitary awakening” of the 1850swhen waterborne diseases reached epidemic proportions The federal role in water pollution control began with the Public Health Service Act of l912This act established the Streams Investigation Station at Cincinnati to carry out water pollution researchThe oil Pollution Act was passed in l 924 to prevent oily discharges on coastal watersDuring the l930s and l940s，there was a continuing debate over whether the federal government should take a greater role in controlling water pollutionThis debate led to the limited expansion of federal powers expressed in the Water Pollution Control Act of l948The Federal Water Pollution Control Act(FWPCA) of 1956 was the cornerstone of early federal efforts to reduce pollutionKey elements of the act included a new program of subsidies for municipal treatment plant construction and an expanded basis for federal legal action against pollutersIncreased funding for state water pollution control efforts and new support for research and training activities were also providedEach of these programs was continued in the many amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Acts in the l960s and l970s The l956 legislation mandated a program of construction grants(subsidies to help pay for municipal treatment facilities)as a response to pressures from municipalitiesThe cities felt that federal funds should be used to help pay for me treatment plants required by federal lawGrants made under the l 956 act could subsidize as much as onethird of the construction cost for a municipal plant，but the maximum grant for a single project was limited to $600,000A total of $50 million per year was authorized for the program The Water Quality Act of l 965 carried forward many provisions of the earlier federal legis1ationgenerally with all increase in levels of fundingThe l965 act also introduced important new requirements for states to establish ambient water quality standards and detailed plans indicating how the standards would be met. The act also shifted responsibility for administering the federal water quality program from the U.S. Public Health Service to a separate agency, the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). This was not a permanent change. In 1970, a presidential reorganization order placed the water pollution control activities and several other federal environmental programs in the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In amending the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972, Congress introduced (1) national water quality goals, (2) technology-based effluent limitations, (3) a national discharge permit system, and (4) federal court actions against sources violating permit conditions. The 1972 amendments aimed to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of (he nations waters. The amendments specified, as a national goal, that the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters be eliminated by 1985. This also included an interim goal: herever attainable, an interim goal of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water should be achieved by July 1, 1983.The EPA administrator was required to set effluent restrictions that met the following general requirements of the 1972 amendments: By 1977, all dischargers were to achieve “best practicable control technology currently available (BPT); and by 1983, all dischargers were to have the “best available technology economically achievable (BAT). After delays caused by numerous legal challenges to the EPA administrators effluent limitations guidelines, the BPT provisions were implemented. However, the BAT requirements were so heavily disputed that Congress modified them in the Clean Water Act of 1977. The principal criticism of the original BAT effluent limitations was that the costs of the very high required percentage reductions in residuals would be much greater than the benefits. In defining BAT, costs were considered, but only in the general context of affordability by industry. Computations of the social benefits of stringent effluent controls were not a central factor. Congress presumed the benefits of eliminating water pollutants would be substantial. Congressional insistence on very strict effluent limitations can also be interpreted as an effort to guarantee the rights of Americans to high-quality water. In 1977, Congress responded to critics of BAT by requiring it only for toxic substances. A different requirement was introduced for conventional pollutants, such as biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids. The effluent limitations guidelines for these pollutants were to be based on the best conventional pollutant control technology (BCT). The Clean Water Act of 1977 strongly endorsed the view that waterborne toxic substances must be controlled. The text of the act included a list of 65 substances, or classes of substances, to be used as the basis for defining toxics. This list resulted from a 1976 settlement of a legal action in which several environmental organizations sued the EPA administrator for failing to issue toxic pollutant standards. This list was subsequently expanded by EPA to include 127 priority pollutants. Effluent limitations required by the FWPCA amendments of 1972 (and later the Clean Water Act of 1977) formed the basis for issuing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The permit system idea stemmed from actions taken by the Department of Justice in the late 1960s. With the support of a favorable interpretation by the Supreme Court, attorneys for the United States relied on the 1899 River and Harbor Act to prosecute industrial sources of water pollution. The 1899 act, which was drafted originally to prohibit deposits of refuse in navigable waters to keep them clear for boat traffic, was interpreted in the 1960s as applying to liquid waste as well. In December 1970, the EPA administrator issued an executive order calling for a water quality management program using permits and penalties based on the River and Harbor Act of 1899. Although this program was delayed by court challenges in 1971, Congress made it a central part of the federal strategy embodied in the FWPCA amendments of 1972.美国水质管理立法与法规173水质管理 1.饮用水 1974年的安全饮用水法(Safe Drinking Water Act)是第一个法规，旨在为公众提供安全饮用水，而不是向水体排放。在立法中，国会要求EPA为25人以上或l5个供水点以上的公共供水系统制定饮用水标准。1975年，EPA公布了饮用水暂行条例(Interim Drinking Water Regulations)。 1980年，国会增加了一个条款，即未经许可，严禁将废水注入地下。1986年通过了安全饮用水法修正案(safe Drinking water Act Amendments)，修正案使暂行条例变成了永久法规，并建立了执行责任制，严禁使用铅管、焊接剂和熔剂，以保护地下水源。 1996年，对安全饮用水法修正案进行了加强和扩充，其措施包括给遵守和执行此法的单位提供补助金，增加水系统容量，培训操作人员以及开发被污染水源水的处理技术等。此外，它还要求自来水水质出现问题时，应在24小时内通知用户(旧法是两个星期)，向用户提供法规要求控制的污染物水平的年度报告。水质分析中，对于那些从未发现过或不可能出现的污染物可以不进行分析，以减少分析费用。EPA提供经费，对砷、氡、Crytosporidium的健康效应及其处理方法进行研究。此外，EPA要求开发一套筛选方法，用于鉴定与自然出现的雌激素具有相同效应的污染物质所引起的风险，并筛选会造成雌激素效应的杀虫剂及其他化学物质。 2水污染控制 关于水污染控制的讨论取材于LOrtolano所著的环境规划与设计。1948年以前，水污染防治工作由州政府及各个地方和地区部门负责。第一个处理水污染问题的机构是在19世纪50年代，当水媒疾病(waterborne diseases)造成流行病而唤起“卫生觉醒”(sanitary awakening)时成立的。 联邦政府在水污染防治中的作用始于l912年的公共卫生服务法(Public Health Service Act)。根据该法在辛辛那提建立了河流调查站，以进行水污染研究。l924年通过了油污染法(oil Pollution Act)，以防止油污排入海岸水体。在20世纪30年代至40年代间，关于联邦政府是否在水污染控制上应起更重要的作用，进行了持续的争论。该争论导致对l948年的水污染控制法中规定的联邦权力的扩张提出了限制。1956年的联邦水污染控制法(Federal Water Pollution Control Act，FWPCA)是联邦政府早期致力于减少水污染行动的奠基石。该法的关键要素包括对兴建污水处理厂的资助计划和联邦对付污染者的执法依据。根据该法，联邦还提供更多的基金，供各州政府进行水污染控制工作，提供经费支持研究和培训活动。这些计划很多是20世纪60年代和70年代联邦水污染控制法的延续。为响应地方政府的要求，1956年立法通过了建设基金计划(用来补助地方建造污水处理厂)。市政府感到，根据联邦法律，联邦基金应该用来帮助支付处理厂需要的费用。1956年的法规确定联邦资助的额度为城市废水处理厂建设费用的l/3，但对每个工程的最高资助额度不得超过60万美元。当时，联邦的资助款项达5000万美元。1965年的水质法改进了早期联邦立法的很多条款，主要是增加了基金的补助额度。该法还对各州建立环境水质标准和制定如何达到这些标准的详细计划提出了新的重要要求。该法还将管理联邦水质计划的责任，从美国公共卫生服务部转移到另一个独立的机构联邦水污染控制局(The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration)，隶属于卫生教育福利部(Department of Health，Education，and Welfare，HEW)。但这不是一个永久性的改变。l970年，美国总统下令将水污染控制机构及其他的联邦环境规划署合并，成立环境保护局(Environmental Protection Agency，EPA)。 l972年，在修正联邦水污染控制法时，国会引入了：国家水质目标；基于处理技术的出水限值；国家排放许可制度；对违反许可规定的污染源采取联邦法庭行动。 1972年的修正案旨在恢复和维