The National Commission on Water Quality (NCWQ) was formed in 1972 by President Richard Nixon, who appointed Nelson A. Rockefeller (then-governor of New York) chair of the Commission. It was an outgrowth of the 1972 Water Pollution Control Act. The Commission got off to a late start: The first meeting was in May 1973. It did not meet its reporting deadline of October 1975 but continued into 1976. The Commission consisted of five members from the public sector and ten from Congress--five each from both chambers. Senator Edmund Muskie and Senator Robert Jones co-chaired the Commission. (Throughout the collection, there is evidence of in-fighting between Rockefeller and Muskie.) The staff of 60 was headed by General Frederick Clarke.