Is the Clean Water Act Obsolete?

Authors

Jonathan Adler, Case Western Reserve University School of LawFollow

Abstract

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is fifty years old and has not been meaningfully revised in 35 years. Over this time, the CWA has helped to protect and improve water quality, but substantial water quality challenges remain including (but not limited to) nonpoint source water pollution. Given these challenge's and dramatic changes in the nature of and scientific understanding of today’s water quality challenges, it is appropriate to ask whether the CWA remains capable of fostering further environmental progress or whether it is obsolete. Prepared for the Case Western Reserve Law Review symposium on “The Clean Water Act at 50,” this essay explores the concept of statutory obsolescence, considers the question of whether the CWA is obsolete, and what might be done about it.

Keywords

Clean Water Act, Environmental Protection Agency, water pollution, nonpoint source pollution, statutory obsolescence

Publication Date

2023

Document Type

Article

Publication Information

73 Case Western Reserve Law Review 207 (2022)

Repository Citation

Adler, Jonathan, "Is the Clean Water Act Obsolete?" (2023). Faculty Publications. 2184.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/2184