1998 Year of the Ocean The U.S. Marine Transportation System 



CERCLA provides for the following three possible actions to protect the public and the 

 environment from the harmfijl effects of a hazardous substance spill. Any combination of these 

 three may be used at a particular spill. 



1) Removal — CERCLA authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up the 

 spilled substance either at the expense of the responsible party or with funds from the Superftmd. 

 CERCLA § 104(a)(1). 



2) Remedial action — CERCLA authorizes EPA to take steps to protect public health and the 

 environment from exposure to the hazardous substance. Example of steps: dredging contaminated 

 sediments, repairing leaking containers, collecting rain water runoff and relocating displaced 

 residents. CERCLA § 104(a)(1). 



3) Damages for natural resource injuries — When the removal and or remedial action will not 

 remedy all injuries to natural resources, CERCLA authorizes the trustees for natural resources, to 

 seek damages from responsible parties to restore or replace natural resources injured by exposure to 

 hazardous substances beyond the scope of EPA' s removal and remedial action. CERCLA 



§§ 107(a)(4)(C) and 107(f). 



Federal Water Pollution Control Act , as amended, also called the Clean Water Act , as 



amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq. 



The CWA establishes the basic scheme for restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and 

 biological integrity of the waters of the United States. The primary mechanism in the CWA 

 regulating the point source discharge of pollutants is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination 

 System (NPDES), which is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Under 

 the NPDES program, a permit is required fi-om EPA or an authorized state for the discharge of any 

 pollutant from a point source into the waters of the United States. This includes discharges 

 associated with oil and gas development on federal leases beyond state waters. An NPDES permit 

 for certain stormwater discharges also is required. Permit discharge limits are technology-based 

 and, where technology-based limits would not protect desired water quality for a particular water 

 body in which the discharge takes place, based on state water quality standards which are 

 developed by the states using EPA guidance and are intended to protect the designated uses of the 

 water body. In the case of discharges to the territorial sea or beyond, permits are also subject to the 

 ocean discharge criteria developed under section 403 of the act. Permits for discharges into the 

 territorial sea or internal waters may be issued by states following approval of their permit program 

 by EPA; in the absence of an approved state permit program, and for discharges beyond the 

 territorial sea, EPA is the permit-issuing authority. 



The CWA was amended in 1987 to include the current nonpoint source (NPS) program. Under this 

 program (section 319), states must develop management programs to address NPS runoff, including 

 the identification of best management practices and measures. In addition, section 319 authorizes 

 grants to assist the states in implementing their approved management programs. 



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