"The regulations here are clear, and any hand is fouled "if any card comes in contact with the discards". As bad as it is for the 1 player, his hand is dead."

Acually even under that regulation the hand is not dead it is fouled. There is a difference between a fouled hand and a dead hand. A fouled hand May be dead.

Is there an actual regulation that allows a player who had no interest in a pot to win it? (Actually you refer to these as regulations rather than rules as though they areset by the government. Is that atually the case and if so is there a place on line where these regulations can be found as I would be interested in seeing them)

In any event let me pose this situation to you which happens many many times every night.

Two players in a pot. Player 1 bets on the river and player 2 folds. Before the dealer pushes the pot player 1 tosses his cards into the muck.

Under your analysis the pot can not be awarded to any player. Nobody has a live hand. I guess the dealer should get to keep the pot (I like this rule).

(this by the way is the exact same situation as the side pot in your example.)