Public Policy

There are ordinances and policies that the government has set up to prevent water pollution that could affect the area’s residents.

The Clean Water Act, signed in 1972, looks to protect the surface water quality throughout the country. At first the act only looked only to the main drop off points, like sewage plants and big industry. The EPA sets standards and regulations that big industry must follow when it comes to chemical release. The EPA does not allow chemical release into “navigable” waters if a permit is not obtained.

But then in the 1980’s they focused their attention on the pollution that occurs in run-off water. Water pollution from run-off water happens from many other types of industry, such as farming. These cases of pollution come from sources that do not use pipes.

The House of Representatives and Congress are looking to pass amendments to the Clean Water Act. The amendment now defines fill material as pollutants that “replaces a portion of the water of the United States with dry land,” and or if you change the bottom of any body of water.

Another policy that is helping govern the water of Philadelphia is Model Municipal Water Resources Ordinance. The ordinance looks to protect the residents of the area by making sure the groundwater and surface water are clean. The ordinance looks to keep the conditions of streams and the water cycle as it was before development. The municipal is allowed to set higher water treatment standards for builders on land where pollutants may be higher.
The ordinance also looks to protect “buffer zones” which are areas of vegetation that absorb rainwater and filter out pollution that may be in the water before it enters water sources. Waste water is also looked at with the ordinance by exploring new technologies that can restore a higher amount of waste water and put it back into the water cycle.

This ordinance and others like it are continually being looked at by advocacy groups, such as the Clean Water Action. Recently the Clean Water Action has looked to strengthen these ordinances and lobbied their local government to place tougher regulations on water treatment in the area.