The Clean Water Act is a federal law enacted in 1972 to regulate water pollution in order to protect the integrity and navigability of the nation’s waterways. This act created the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program to control discharges from point sources into navigable waters. It additionally funded public wastewater treatment facilities and created wetland protections. Under the Clean Water Act, many facilities are required to maintain permits for point source discharge, develop a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan