ABSTRACT
Many contemporary federal environmental policies created during the 1970s were designed to operate within an intergovernmental framework. The history of water pollution control policy in the United States can be divided into two eras, pre-1972 and post-1972, distinguished by the enactment of the landmark 1972 amendments. The 1965 amendments ordered states to develop water quality standards and submit these standards to the newly created Federal Water Pollution Control Authority. The 1972 amendments radically altered the structure and content of national water pollution control efforts. The administrator of the environmental protection agency is instructed to divide the total amount of Sectuib 106 money allocated by Congress in a given year among the states according to the population of the state, the severity of the water polution problem within a state, and the amount of state funds allocated to water pollution control.
