The Refuse Act is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

federal

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

governing use of

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

s. The Act, a section of the

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 is the oldest federal environmental law in the United States. The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United S ...

, prohibited "dumping of

refuse Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste produ ...

" into

navigable waters A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against d ...

, except by permit.

Implementation history

The Army Corps of Engineers administered the Act and initially focused on controlling debris that obstructed navigation.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, DC. (1973)
"Explanatory Statement: Implementation of the 'National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System' Pursuant to Section 402, Federal Water Pollution Amendments of 1972."
1973-02-07.

Pollution control litigation in the 1960s

In the 1960s, due to increasing public and governmental concern about

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...

, the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

began to use the Act to control pollution. The government pursued court cases to prosecute dischargers of

industrial waste Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and ...

to waterways. Notable cases include ''United States v. Republic Steel Corp.'' (1960) and ''U.S. v. Standard Oil Co.'' (1966).

1970 Discharge permit program

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

had enacted the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

(FWPCA) in 1948 to address water pollution problems, but this law gave the government limited enforcement authority. The Department of Interior, which administered the FWPCA (prior to 1972), developed a policy with the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and the Army Corps of Engineers to use the Refuse Act as an enforcement tool, to complement the FWPCA. In 1970 President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

issued an

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

creating a new permit program under the Refuse Act. The focus of the new permit program was on industrial pollution. The Corps of Engineers began to issue the new discharge permits, but in 1971 a legal challenge halted the program.

1972 FWPCA Amendments

Congress enacted major amendments to the FWPCA in 1972. (''See''

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

.) Included in the legislation was a new discharge permit program, called the ''National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System'' ( NPDES), which replaced the Refuse Act permit program.. The amendments assigned lead responsibility for implementation of NPDES to the newly formed

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

(EPA). Congress did not repeal the Refuse Act. The law is still used by the Corps of Engineers to prevent obstructions to navigation. In some pollution enforcement cases, the federal government has used it as a supplemental authority along with the FWPCA.

References

{{US Environmental law United States federal environmental legislation Water pollution in the United States 1899 in the environment 1899 in American law