Rural Clean Water Program[RCWP] Law and Legal Definition
Rural Clean Water Program (RCWP) is a rural water quality initiative that provides technical assistance and financial incentives to improve and protect water quality in the U.S. The main purpose of the program is to reduce the water pollution. The RCWP facilitates reduction of pollutants that impair the quality of streams, rivers, lakes, ground water, and other bodies of water throughout the U.S.
The RCWP also provides financial and technical assistance to private landowners and operators having control of rural land. It provides assistance through long-term contracts to install best management practices in project areas that have critical water quality problems resulting from agricultural activities. The RCWP is designed to reduce agricultural pollutants to improve water quality in rural areas to meet water quality standards or water quality goals. In Concerned Area Residents for the Env't v. Southview Farm, 834 F. Supp. 1422 (W.D.N.Y. 1993), it was held that the objective of the RCWP is to be achieved in the most cost-effective manner possible in keeping with the provision of adequate supplies of food and fiber and a quality environment.