The president has taken administrative action by Executive Order, 1 ELR 45007, to set up a federal permit system under which industrial facilities will be issued permits for waste discharges under the combined authority of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 1 ELR 41101 (especially §21(b) of the 1970 Water Quality Improvement Act) and the Refuse Act, 33 U.S.C. §§407, 411, 413, 1 ELR 41141, which is part of the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. §§401 et seq.

The Refuse Act makes unlawful the discharge of materials into the navigable waters of the United States, unless a permit to do so has been obtained from the Army Corps of Engineers. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions require that water quality considerations be taken into account in granting such permits. United States v. Republic Steel Corp., 362 U.S. 482, 1 ERC 1022 (1960); United States v. Standard Oil Co., 384 U.S. 224, 1 ERC 1033 (1966). The Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970, §21(b), states that no federal permit or license can be given without a certification from the relevant state water pollution control agency that the facility proposed for licensing will meet applicable water quality standards.