U.C. Davis Law School to Host “Clean Water Act at 50” Conference

Interdisciplinary Event Will Assess Landmark Law’s Past, Assess Its Future

On Friday, October 7th, the California Environmental Law & Policy Center at U.C. Davis School of Law will convene a major, day-long conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act.  The event will assess the progress the U.S. has made over the past half-century in abating water pollution; focus on some of the law’s most contentious, current features; and predict how the Act will likely–and should–evolve in the decades to come.

This conference will provide an important, interdisciplinary perspective on the Clean Water Act and water quality issues, thanks to CELPC’s conference planning partners: U.C.D’s Center for Watershed Sciences and its Tahoe Environmental Research Center; California’s State and Regional Water Boards; and the non-profit Resources Legacy Fund.

Highlights of the conference include two keynote addresses: the first will feature a stimulating conversation between two water quality experts who were instrumental in drafting the Clean Water Act in 1972 and California’s landmark Porter-Cologne Act, the state’s comprehensive water pollution control statute that both predated and influenced the CWA.  The second keynote address will feature current U.S.E.P.A. Region IX Administrator Martha Guzman, who will discuss current challenges and opportunities under the CWA.

The October 7th conference will also feature panels on some of today’s most important and controversial Clean Water Act topics: regulation and protection of the nation’s wetlands; key environmental enforcement issues under the CWA; intergovernmental CWA disputes involving the federal government, states and tribal nations; long-term water quality planning (focusing on Lake Tahoe as a case study); and the future of the CWA.

This in-person conference will be held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, the U.C. Davis School of Law.  It is free to attendees.  Seven hours of free M.C.L.E. credit are also available.  However, advance registration is required.  You can register for the conference HERE.

Please plan on joining us at King Hall on Friday, October 7th, for this timely and engaging event.

California Environmental Law & Policy Center, California State and Regional Water Boards, Center for Watershed Sciences, Clean Water Act, Clean Water Act 404, Clean Water Act section 401, Lake Tahoe, Martha Guzman, Porter-Cologne Act, Resources Legacy Fund, Tahoe Environmental Research Center, U.C. Davis, U.C. Davis School of Law