Statement on Signing Executive Order Establishing a Water Quality Enforcement Program.

I HAVE TODAY directed the establishment of a Federal permit program covering facilities which discharge waste into navigable waters and their tributaries in the United States. This new program will enhance the ability of the Federal Government to enforce water quality standards and provide a major strengthening of our efforts to clean up our Nation's water.

Last February I transmitted to the Congress a comprehensive water pollution program, as part of my 37-point program designed to protect our environment. My proposals included legislative measures to make the establishment and enforcement of water quality standards more effective and expeditious. Unfortunately, no congressional action has been taken on my water pollution control proposals. I will continue to seek enactment of these proposals during the next session of the Congress.

In the meantime, I am directing the immediate initiation of a new, coordinated program of water quality enforcement under the Refuse Act of 1899, an act whose potential for water pollution control has only recently been recognized.

This law, which we have relied upon for many of our water pollution enforcement actions to date, prohibits the discharge of refuse matter, except that flowing from streets and sewers, into navigable waters or their tributaries without a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Through a more activist utilization of this act, we will be able to require industries to submit to State authorities and the Federal Government data concerning effluents which they plan to discharge into navigable waters. For those firms that are complying with water quality standards, the issuance of a permit, agreed upon by the Federal Government and the States, will assure all parties that standards are being met. To deal with those who are disregarding our pollution control laws, a swift and comprehensive enforcement mechanism is provided by this authority.

The most effective use of the Refuse Act will require close coordination between the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency as well as other Federal and State authorities. The Executive order [11574] I am signing today will ensure that such coordination is provided and that the program is initiated promptly. As this order makes clear, the Environmental Protection Agency will make the necessary determinations on behalf of the Federal Government for all water quality aspects of this program.

The Refuse Act permit program makes maximum use of all existing provisions of law relating to water quality. It will apply to discharges both from new installations and from existing facilities. Implementation of the program will begin when proposed regulations, soon to be issued for comment, are promulgated. Permits for new discharges will be required immediately. For existing discharges, the deadline for filing applications will be July 1, 1971, to provide the States an opportunity to mobilize for this program. In the meantime, violators of water quality standards will not be exempt from prosecution under the Refuse Act.

I wish to make clear that although the Refuse Act generally does not apply to municipal discharges, we will continue to vigorously employ other authorities for dealing with violations of water quality standards by municipalities. The Environmental Protection Agency recently put three large cities on notice that it will take legal action under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act if they do not take steps to correct water quality violations.

Implementation of a program of this magnitude will not be easy. It involves a number of Federal agencies, 50 States, and many thousands of industries. But we cannot afford to wait. We must move ahead to clean up our waters. I invite the help and cooperation of the States, private industry, and all citizens in making the Refuse Act permit program an effective tool to promote our water quality objectives.