ABSTRACT
Twenty years ago, with the passage of the Clean Water Act, the federal government embarked on a program to clean up the navigable waters of the United States. Along with restrictions, guidelines and discharge permits, the construction grants program provided funds for the design and construction of thousands of Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). In some instances the failure of new and sophisticated waste treatment plants to meet their effluent permit limits has been traced to toxic wastes from industrial operations. In 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its national “Policy for Development of Water Quality-Based Permit Limitations for Toxic Pollutants.” This Policy is being implemented by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and represents a major change in Federal and State pollution control strategies. Permit discharge compliance is no longer based on specified end-of-pipe technology or specific single chemical analyses. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has incorporated whole effluent toxicity tests to their control strategy because there is now a general consensus that an evaluation of effluent toxicity, when adequately related to instream conditions can provide a valid indication of receiving water impacts.’
