Number: 1985-20
WHEREAS, the discharge of toxic water pollutants into our nation’s waterways threatens the quality of those waters and the health of wildlife and humans that drink contaminated water or consume contaminated aquatic organisms; and
WHEREAS, more than half the industrial dischargers of toxic water pollutants with an average daily volume of approximately 44 billion gallons of wastewater discharge their wastes into municipal sewer systems and publicly-owned treatment works (POTW’s); and
WHEREAS, many toxic pollutants are inadequately treated by POTW’s and as a result, pass through the POTW’s contaminate the nation’s waterways, interfere with POTW operations, or to contaminate the sludge produced by POTW operations so as to preclude its beneficial use; and
WHEREAS, the Clean Water Act requires POTW’s which receive industrial toxic pollutants to develop and implement “pretreatment programs,” which require the treatment of toxic pollutants by industries prior to their discharge into municipal sewer systems; and
WHEREAS, the deadline for developing pretreatment programs was July 1, 1983, and many POTW’s failed to meet this deadline; and
WHEREAS, the Clean Water Act also requires that states which administer the Federal National Pollution Elimination Discharge System program must also assume responsibility for supervising the implementation of the pretreatment program; and
WHEREAS, the deadline for the development of such state programs was March 27, 1980, and many states failed to meet this deadline; and
WHEREAS, proposals have been made to amend the Clean Water Act to permit development of alternative pretreatment programs which would allow communities to “opt out” of the Federal requirements; and
WHEREAS, a uniform, national pretreatment program is necessary to adequately reduce toxic chemicals in the nation’s waters and sludge and to prevent “pollution shopping” by industry for weak regulations;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 14-17, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, hereby calls upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to vigorously enforce the requirements of the Clean Water Act and the implementing regulations to ensure that POTW’s expeditiously develop and implement pretreatment programs which:
- prevent the discharge of toxic pollutants into and through POTW’s to the detriment of water quality and of human and wildlife use of those waters, and
- prevent interference with POTW operations, and
- ensure that sewage sludge produced by POTW operations is not contaminated by toxic pollutants so as to prevent its beneficial use; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the U.S. EPA to vigorously enforce the requirement of the Clean Water Act and the implementing regulations to ensure that states required to assume responsibility for supervising POTW pretreatment programs expeditiously develop such supervisory programs and submit them to EPA for review; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges that states which are required to develop supervisory programs expeditiously develop such programs and submit them to EPA for review; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges Congress to maintain a uniform pretreatment program for the nation.