Summary

The Clean Water Act of 1977 allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant waivers to publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities so that thay can discharge primary treated municipal waste into the marine environment when it can be shown that costly secondary treatment is not necessary. Many communities have been discouraged from applying for secondary treatment waivers because of legislative constraints and restrictive EPA administration of the waiver provision. Billions of dollars in federal, state, and local funds could be saved if coastal communities discharging primary municipal wastewaters into the marine environment did not have to build costly and unnecessary secondary treatment facilities.

The Clean Water Act limited some communities from requesting waivers by providing a prohibitive time limit for initiating such requests. It also provided that communities without existing marine outfalls were ineligible for the waivers. EPA restricted the issuance of waivers through complex waiver regulations and extensive information requirements. The costs involved in submitting a completed application for waiver were excessive. In addition, federal funding was not provided for waiver studies. The scientists that GAO consulted believed that the standardized application and review process which EPA uses for all communities, irrespective of size and type of discharge, is not well suited to the waiver provision. A stratified approach was suggested which would take size and type of discharge into consideration. This would focus more attention on dischargers that have the most potential to harm the environment while allowing others to receive the waivers promptly. Immediate action by EPA and Congress would save billions of dollars in unnecessary expenditures.