 It gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting discharge standards for treatment facilities. The CWA also contained requirements to set water quality standards for contaminants in surface waters. The CWA made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions.The USEPA can delegate authority to States for the permitting of discharges and development of water quality standards, as is the case in Missouri. Because the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in Kansas City are considered point source discharges, the City is required to comply with the relevant State and Federal regulations.
Because of the complex nature of CSOs and SSOs, USEPA has programs that are focused specifically on these types of wet weather discharges. The CSO program was responsible for the development of the Federal CSO Control Policy and associated guidance documents. The CSO Policy was developed to ensure that CSO controls are cost-effective and meet local environmental objectives. The CSO Policy requires extensive studies of the sewer system and impacted streams and rivers and allows for phased implementation of CSO controls considering the financial capability of the community to pay for the controls. The SSO Program is responsible for the development of the proposed SSO rule with the goal of clarifying and expanding permit requirements in order to reduce SSOs.
The nation is divided into 10 USEPA Regions. Each USEPA Regional office is responsible within its states for the execution of the Agency's programs. USEPA's Region 7 offices in Kansas City, Kan. oversee Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Missouri regulations
Rules of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), Division 20-Clean Water Commission, Chapter 7-Water Quality (10 CSR 20-7) are administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Water Pollution Control Program. These rules contain effluent limitations that dictate the level of pollutants allowed in discharges from wastewater treatment plants and CSOs, prohibition of and conditions for bypasses from sewer systems that applies to SSOs, and water quality standards for rivers and streams that include designated uses for water bodies in the State and narrative and numeric criteria for pollutants to protect those uses.
Kansas regulations
Because some of Kansas City, Missouri's CSOs discharge to waters of Kansas, the Kansas Administrative Regulations, Chapter 28-Water Pollution Control, Article 16-Sewage Discharge Permits, (KAR 28-16) as administered by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Water, are also of relevance.
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