An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

1979 "Civiletti" Memorandum under CWA Section 404(f)

US Attorney General opinion on ultimate administrative authority under Section 404 to determine the reach of navigable waters and the meaning of Section 404(f)

You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.

Civiletti Memo (PDF)(4 pp, 88 K, September 5, 1979)