Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater Page: 92
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to the issue of groundwater to some extent, and within each state it is
possible to find as many as seven agencies dealing with groundwater
issues. But while the states write 'strategies' and the lawbooks
provide us with a great many pages of text devoted to groundwater,
there are hundreds of communities across this country with citizens
who will attest to the failure of those laws, the associated regulations
and enforcement mechanisms that are supposed to give their
groundwater adequate protection (Smith, 1989).
Clearly, many in Congress are not satisfied by current federal efforts to
protect groundwater. In recent Congressional hearings jointly held by the
Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Agriculture Research and Environment
(House Science, Space and Technology Committee) and the Subcommittee on
Department Operations, Research and Foreign Agriculture (House Agriculture
Committee), Subcommittee Chairman James Scheuer (D-N.Y.) vigorously attacked
what he called the "thundering indifference" of USDA, USEPA, and USGS
(Scheuer, 1989). Either the federal agencies are failing to communicate to
Congress the dimensions of their new efforts, or Congress is simply unimpressed
with the scale and the extent of these programs. In a world where "perception is
reality," the Congressional perception of inadequate Federal agency actions will
likely result in legislation that mandates increased federal effort and coordination.
In the context of the preceding discussion of ideal organizational mechanisms to
develop groundwater protection programs, the following section provides a
discussion of the kinds of problems that Congress might wish to address.
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United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater, report, December 1990; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc99137/m1/92/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.