The Clean Water Act is the primary piece of national legislation that regulates activities in and around wetlands and protects our nation’s waters. The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972. The Section 404 Dredge and Fill permitting program is commonly recognized as the authority under the CWA most frequently used to avoid, minimize or mitigate impacts to wetlands.

Under the authority of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. EPA (EPA) develops the environmental guidelines the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) uses to evaluate a permit application, has final authority to determine the scope of “waters of the United States,” and can veto a Corps-issued permit (a step rarely taken). The EPA also determines whether portions of the 404 program should be turned over to a state, territory, or tribe.

“Wetlands regulatory and permit programs in general consist of a few basic elements: a jurisdictional scope, a method to authorize impacts to aquatic resources and assess proposed authorizations, and a method of assuring compliance. State and tribal wetland and aquatic resource regulatory programs are defined by the authority under which they operate (i.e., Clean Water Act (CWA) §404, CWA §401, State or Tribal law) and how the program is implemented. The effectiveness of a state or tribal regulatory program depends on clear definitions, guidelines and regulations, assignment of responsibilities, and procedures that are applied consistently by program staff and understood by the public. This applies to all aspects of the program but is particularly important for compensation, compliance and enforcement as these are highly visible to the public and the regulated community.” (U.S. EPA)

Regulation is one component of the EPA’s Core Elements Framework. To view the EPA’s webpage on CWA Section 404, click here.

EPA PDF on Regulation for Wetland Program Plans can be found here.