Water Resources and Pollution in Environmental Science Practice Test

In 1987, Congress strengthened the framework for protecting water quality by enacting the Water Quality Act. This act was designed to improve how states set and enforce water quality standards and to tackle nonpoint source pollution—diffuse runoff from farms, urban areas, and other diffuse sources that aren’t tied to a single discharger. It expanded federal support and gave states clearer responsibilities to develop plans and adopt standards that reflect water quality goals, building on the earlier Clean Water Act’s focus on point-source discharges. That focus on improving and implementing comprehensive water quality standards, including addressing nonpoint sources, is what ties this 1987 act to the goal in the question. The other options either refer to earlier legislation or are not real acts, so they don’t fit the 1987 context.