Analysis of Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act

The Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Clean Air Act (CAA) are comprehensive federal laws aiming to reduce emissions and other pollutants. The CWA provides a modified and expanded version of the Federal Water Pollution Act of 1948. This federal law enables states and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use a range of techniques such as Discharge Monitoring Report reviews to ensure there is compliance towards the CWA. The CWA has even developed The Clean Water Act Action Plan, which outlines how the EPA is strengthening the way water pollution recent and potent challenges are addressed. This plan addresses the challenges including pollution dispersed by sewer overflows, contaminated water that flows from industrial facilities and runoff pollution from urban streets. The CAA is a federal law that boasts uniform, national standards covering a range of pollutant and sources. The CAA addresses the air pollution problem as a combination of many kinds of problems that can generate a variety of air pollutants with varying environmental and health impacts. The CAA requires the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) based on the latest science and requires states to adopt and achieve enforceable plans. The NAAQS set quality standards for six common “criteria pollutants.” These criteria are “particulate matter, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead” (EPA, 2019). Both federal laws have achieved improvement over the decades, but when recognizing the more significant challenge, the CAA is far less developed than the CWA. The CAA fails to regulate or create standards for airborne mold contaminants and indoor air quality. The CAA has received far fewer amendments than the CWA, which shows that it has received less attention than the CWA over time.  
Moving forward, the Clean Water Act was passed by Congress to address the issue of point source pollution. The EPA describes point source pollution as “pollution from a discrete location, such as industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and sewage pipes” (EPA, 2019). The CWA sets forth a new national permitting system for these sources of pollution, which standardizes rules and the enforcement of these rules regarding pollution. The states, federal government, EPA, and tribal regulatory partners all help to monitor and ensure compliance of the CWA regarding the clean water laws and regulations to protect human health and the environment. Previously mentioned, there is a range of techniques to ensure there is compliance with this federal law the EPA lists them as Discharge Monitoring Report reviews, on-site compliance evaluation, and by aiding to enhance compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program (EPA, 2019). The states examine compliance monitoring; as of now, only four states have not implemented this program. The EPA oversees the authorized state programs and has direct implementation responsibilities for the unauthorized states. The CWA has an orchestration of policies, programs, and support to achieve goals in a reasonable time. The Clean Water Act Action Plan is an example of a plan that is strengthening the way our biggest water pollution challenges are being addressed. This plan aims to fulfill the goals of targeting enforcement to the most significant water pollution problems, improving transparency and accountability by providing the public with access to better data on the water quality in their communities and strengthen enforcement performance at the state and federal levels. The CWA Action Plan also has implementation priorities that describe the new approaches to revamp the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. According to the EPA, there are four fundamental changes to how we implement the NPDES program. First, switching existing paper reporting to electronic reporting with automated compliance evaluations and improved transparency. Second, creating a paradigm in which our regulations and permits compel compliance through public accountability, self-monitoring, electronic reporting, and other methods. Thirdly, addressing the most severe water pollution problems by fundamentally re-tooling key NPDEA permitting and enforcement practices, while continuing to enforce against serious violators vigorously. Lastly, conducting comprehensive and coordinated permitting, compliance, and enforcement programs to improve states and EPA performance in protecting and improving water quality. The CWA can protect the water quality because of these different tools. 
On the contrary, the CAA aims to boost the uniformity and to serve as the national standards covering a wide range of pollutants and sources. The clean air act calls for state, local, tribal and federal governments to work in partnership to clean the air. The public a stake holder such as, state, local, federal, and tribal governments play critical roles in developing standards and implementation of the clean air act. The CAA was also implemented to reflect the technological optimism of the times and the frustration with poor air quality in our cities. The CAA has defined the air pollution problem as a combination of many different problems. There are many kinds of air pollutants with varying environmental and health impacts. According to the EPA, air pollution does not generate fatalities; it aggravates health problems through chronic exposure, increasing the incidence and severity of respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma (EPA, 2019). The CAA shares that these types of pollutants can contribute to acid rain as well as the formation of fine particles. In order to control these problems, the CAA has identified what to regulate, how much to regulate, where to regulate, and how to regulate through the Comprehensive National Pollution Law. By identifying these elements, the CAA can provide “cooperative federalism” (Salzman, 201-) a dynamic balance between federal standard setting and state implementation, and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). NAAQS are based on the latest science and requires states to adopt and achieve enforceable plans. These plans include standards set by the EPA that covers six common “criteria pollutants” (EPA, 2019). According to the EPA, criteria pollutants are particulate matter, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead. The CAA also addresses hazardous toxic air pollutants, acid rain, depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and regional haze. Also, Congress drafted the CAA with general authorities that can be used to address pollution problems that emerge over time, such as greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Requires all primary pollution sources and sure others to apply for and operate under operating permits that assure compliance with all of their clean air act requirements. The state issues operating permits and local permitting agencies under EPA approved programs and are to be issued for a fixed term of five years. Each permit contains enforceable emissions standards and limitations, a schedule of compliance, and a requirement that the source submits any required monitoring results every six months or more often. Two important things to mention is that the CAA does not regulate indoor air quality or for airborne mold contaminants.  
Understanding how both federal laws function and the depth of what each cover, it is safe to state the most significant problem right now as the CAA. The air is an essential component of life for our planet, and it concerns to know that not all air is regulated and monitored under the CAA.  There are a few reasons that highlight how the EPA fails to deliver resources for clean air; the websites for the CAA are very limited in information and content compared to the CWA. The law is also far less developed excluding the monitoring of indoor quality and airborne mold contaminants. The CWA has developed an Action Plan that outlines their next steps, unlike the CAA. This shows that progress in developing and enhancing the CAA has little potential. By the CAA not addressing the indoor air quality companies are allowed to Hookah Bars. According to Noonan, one public health concern with this type of tobacco use are the associated health effects. The employees and patrons in hookah bars are inhaling noxious fumes from mainstream smoke, as well as the toxins from the charcoal that is used to heat the tobacco. If the CAA addressed indoor air, there could be stronger regulations for the types of charcoal and ventilation needed for similar environments. 
In sum, bother federal laws are beneficial to our environments. Without these federal laws, pollution could be at very high and uncontrollable levels. The CWA is far more advanced than the CAA which is why it is the most significant problem. Not providing clean indoor air is equivalent to not providing clean outdoor air. Humans spend 87% of their life is indoors according to the EPA (EPA, 2019). Considering this statistic there should be some consideration of the indoor air quality in this federal law.Page Break 
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