Congressional Research Service Reports - 361 Matching Results

This system will be undergoing maintenance April 18th between 9:00AM and 12:00PM CDT.

Search Results

prev Results: 21 - 44 next
open access

Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants

Description: Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires states to identify waters that are impaired by pollution, even after application of pollution controls. For those waters, states must establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollutants to ensure that water quality standards can be attained. Implementation was dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits.
Date: February 13, 2003
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act

Description: Congress enacted the most recent major amendments to the Clean Water Act in 1987 (P.L. 100-4). Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, and others have been working to implement the many program changes and additions mandated in the law. At issue today, as it has been for some time, is what progress EPA and the states are making. In general, many states and environmental groups fault EPA for delays in issuing guidance and assistance needed to carry out the provisions of th… more
Date: August 15, 2001
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Auburn Dam on the American River: Fact Sheet

Description: For more than 30 years, Congress has debated constructing a dam on the American River near Auburn, California. The Army Corps of Engineers recently identified three alternatives for flood control, with the Division office's preferred plan calling for construction of a 508-foot-high detention dam. Currently, two bills address the issue: H.R. 3270 supports construction of the dam, while H.R. 2951 opposes construction of any structure on the North Fork of the American River.
Date: June 6, 1996
Creator: Cody, Betsy A.; Hughes, H. Steven & Price, Shelley
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996: Overview of P.L. 104-182

Description: The 104th Congress made extensive changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) with the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (P.L. 104-182), bringing to a close a multi-year effort to amend a statute that was widely criticized as having too little flexibility, too many unfunded mandates, and an arduous but unfocused regulatory schedule. Among the many changes to the SDWA, the 1996 amendments added provisions to provide funding to communities for drinking water madates, focus regulatory e… more
Date: February 8, 1999
Creator: Tiemann, Mary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Clean Water Act Section 401: Background and Issues

Description: Section 401 of the Clean Water Act requires that an applicant for a federal license or permit provide a certification that any discharges from the facility will comply with the Act, including water quality standard requirements. Disputes have arisen over the states' exercise of authority under Section 401. Until recently, much of the debate over the Section 401 certification issue has been between states and hydropower interests. A 1994 Supreme Court decision which upheld the states' authority … more
Date: October 4, 1998
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Endocrine Disruption: An Introduction

Description: Exposure to certain chemicals in the environment could disrupt the hormone systems of animals and humans, according to some scientists who are concerned about potential risks to public health and ecosystems. Congress has mandated chemical screening to assess the potential of pesticides and drinking water contaminants to influence the normal functions of female, male and thyroid hormones. As conflicting scientific evidence accumluates on the hormone disruption hypothesis, legislators may conside… more
Date: January 11, 2001
Creator: Schierow, Linda-Jo & Buck, Eugene H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Ecosystems, Biomes, and Watersheds: Definitions and Use

Description: This paper describes the meaning and applications of ecosystem and of the related terms watershed and biome. It discusses the pros and cons of all three as organizing principles for land management, and the major issues that are likely to arise in the debate over ecosystem management.
Date: July 14, 1993
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wetlands and Agriculture: Policy Issues in the 1995 Farm Bill

Description: Wetlands protection efforts have been a major concern for agricultural interests since Congress enacted so-called swampbuster provisions in the 1985 Food Security Act. Under these provisions, all producers who alter wetlands risk losing certain farm program benefits. Determining which sites are wetlands and enforcement of penalties remain contentious issues. Controversy has been heightened by confusion over how this program is related to the principal Federal regulatory program to protect wetla… more
Date: December 19, 1994
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wetland Mitigation Banking: Status and Prospects

Description: Wetland protection is controversial because the federal government regulates activities on private lands and because the natural values at some of these regulated sites are being debated. This controversy pits property owners and development interests against environmentalists and others who seek to protect the remaining wetlands. Mitigation banking, which allows a person to degrade a wetland at one site if a wetland at another site is improved, has been identified as a potential answer to this… more
Date: September 12, 1997
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Toxic Pollutants and the Clean Water Act: Current Issues

Description: Controlling the discharge of toxic pollutants into the Nation's waters is once again an issue as Congress considers reauthorizing the Clean Water Act. This report describes the evolution of programs and policies in the Act concerning toxic pollutants, discusses current problems with implementation of some of these programs and policies, and outlines a number of issues that are on the legislative agenda.
Date: September 21, 1993
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen