Clean Water Act in the context of "Wetlands"

A point source of pollution is a single identifiable source of air, water, thermal, noise or light pollution. A point source has negligible extent, distinguishing it from other pollution source geometrics (such as nonpoint source or area source). The sources are called point sources because in mathematical modeling, they can be approximated as a mathematical point to simplify analysis. Pollution point sources are identical to other physics, engineering, optics, and chemistry point sources and include:

• Air pollution from an industrial source (rather than an airport or a road, considered a line source, or a forest fire, which is considered an area source, or volume source)
• Water pollution from factories, power plants, municipal sewage treatment plants and some farms (see concentrated animal feeding operation). The U.S. Clean Water Act also defines municipal separate storm sewer systems and industrial stormwater discharges (such as construction sites) as point sources.
  • Man-made, natural, and groundwater reservoirs can all be contaminated by point source pollution which can threaten human health and safety.
• Noise pollution from a jet engine
• Disruptive seismic vibration from a localized seismic study
• Light pollution from an intrusive street light
• Radio emissions from an interference-producing electrical device

Title 33 of the United States Code outlines the role of navigable waters in the United States Code.

• 33 U.S.C. ch. 1—Navigable Waters Generally
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 2—International Rules for Navigation at Sea
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 3—Navigation Rules for Harbors, Rivers, and Inland Waters Generally
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 4—Navigation Rules for Great Lakes and Their Connecting and Tributary Waters
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 5—Navigation Rules for Red River of the North and Rivers Emptying Into Gulf of Mexico and Tributaries
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 5A—Exemption of Navy Or Coast Guard Vessels from Certain Navigation Rules
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 6—General Duties of Ship Officers and Owners After Collision or Other Accident
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 7—Regulations For the Suppression of Piracy
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 8—Summary Trials For Certain Offenses Against Navigation Laws
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 9—Protection of Navigable Waters and of Harbor and River Improvements Generally
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 10—Anchorage Grounds And Harbor Regulations Generally
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 11—Bridges Over Navigable Waters
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 12—River and Harbor Improvements Generally
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 13—Mississippi River Commission
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 14—California Debris Commission
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 15—Flood Control
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 16—Lighthouses
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 17—National Ocean Survey
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 18—Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 19—Saint Lawrence Seaway
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 20—Pollution of the Sea by Oil
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 21—International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 22—Sea Grant Colleges and Marine Science Development
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 23—Pollution Control of Navigable Waters
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 24—Vessel Bridge-To-Bridge Communication
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 25—Ports and Waterways Safety Program
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 26—Water Pollution Prevention and Control
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 27—Ocean Dumping
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 28—Pollution Casualties on the High Seas: United States Intervention
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 29—Deepwater Ports
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 30—International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 31—Ocean Pollution Research and Development and Monitoring Planning
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 32—Inland Waterways Trust Fund
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 33—Prevention of Pollution from Ships
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 34—Inland Navigational Rules
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 35—Artificial Reefs
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 36—Water Resources Development
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 37—Organotin Antifouling Paint Control
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 38—Dumping of Medical Waste by Public Vessels
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 39—Shore Protection from Municipal or Commercial Waste
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 40—Oil Pollution
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 41—National Coastal Monitoring
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 42—Estuary Restoration
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 43—National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps
• 33 U.S.C. ch. 44—Oceans and Human Health

A publicly owned treatment works (POTW) is a term used in the United States for a sewage treatment plant owned, and usually operated, by a government agency. In the U.S., POTWs are typically owned by local government agencies, and are usually designed to treat domestic sewage and not industrial wastewater.

The term is used extensively in U.S. water pollution law (i.e. the Clean Water Act), regulations and programs. Many POTWs were established or expanded with grants or low-interest loans from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines an animal feeding operation (AFO) in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR, Federal Register, V. 68 No. 1, page 7265) as a lot or facility (other than an aquatic animal production facility) where the following conditions are met:

• Animals (other than aquatic animals) have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period, and
• Crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the facility.

The definition of an AFO was developed by the EPA as a regulatory definition to delineate confined feeding of beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, swine, sheep, poultry, or other livestock from pasture-based systems (grazing systems were not meant to be regulated by EPA) for enforcement of the Clean Water Act. The AFO classification is meant to apply to all sizes of operations and is the first step in defining an operation as a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations are facilities that require federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water quality permits, irrespective of size. While state regulations differ from state to state, changes in 2003 to the NPDES permit program forced most state programs to adopt the AFO and CAFO designations, and thus the regulatory definition of an AFO is common across the United States.

Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is approximately 28 miles (45 kilometers) long by 8 miles (12 kilometers) wide. It is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. Buzzards Bay is often considered the finest sailing location on the East Coast and is frequently compared in terms of sailing conditions to San Francisco Bay. Since 1914, Buzzards Bay has been connected to Cape Cod Bay by the Cape Cod Canal. In 1988, under the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts designated Buzzards Bay to the National Estuary Program, as "an estuary of national significance" that is threatened by pollution, land development, or overuse.

The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The administrator is nominated by the president of the United States and must be confirmed by a vote of the Senate.

Lee Zeldin is the current administrator of the EPA.