RL30437: Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture
Claudia Copeland
Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
February 16, 2000
ABSTRACT
Agriculture, which has been a relatively minor component of national water quality policies and programs, especially regulatory policies, is currently involved with several recent Administration water quality initiatives. This report provides background on three ongoing initiatives with potential to affect agriculture: the Clean Water Action Plan, the Unified National Animal Feeding Operations Strategy, and implementation of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) provisions of the Clean Water Act. The report includes a glossary of terms and a chronology of the key deadlines in the initiatives and identifies other CRS reports for additional information. It will be updated as developments warrant.
Summary
Congress most recently enacted amendments to the nation's water quality law, the Clean Water Act (CWA), in 1987. But national water quality policy has evolved in the intervening years, as a result of implementation of the 1987 amendments and related Administration initiatives intended to fulfill the requirements and meet the goals and objectives of the Act. Agriculture, which has been a relatively minor component of national water quality policies and programs, especially regulatory policies, is now involved in several aspects of three recent initiatives.