Point source outdoor air pollutants are emitted directly from single identifiable, fixed locations. Common point sources include large industrial facilities like oil refineries, electric power and sewage treatment plants, and airports, as well as small industrial, non-industrial, and commercial facilities like dry cleaners, gas stations, and livestock farms. Not included in this category are nonpoint sources like motor vehicle emissions. 

Learn more about point source air pollution emissions.

Nonpoint source pollution, unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse sources, and generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage, seepage, or hydrologic modification. As water runoff or drainage flows, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, ultimately depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and/or groundwaters.

Learn more about reduction in nonpoint source pollutants.

States rely on federal funding and collaborative technical support to adequately update and maintain the nation’s aging drinking water and wastewater treatment systems. The federal Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF and DWSRF) are among the most successful and cost-effective environmental programs enacted by Congress and carried out by states with U.S. EPA guidance. The CWSRF has facilitated hundreds of wastewater, stormwater, energy-efficiency, nonpoint source, and green infrastructure projects. The DWSRF assists with the costs of ensuring safe drinking water supplies and helps small communities to meet their responsibilities. These funds account for only a portion of funding for water infrastructure in a state.

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