Congressional Research Service Reports - 13 Matching Results
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- Safe Drinking Water Act Reauthorization Issues
- No Description Available.
- Rural Water Supply and Sewer Systems: Background Information
- The Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act impose requirements regarding drinking water quality and wastewater treatment in rural areas. Approximately 27% of the U.S. population lives in areas defined by the Census Bureau as rural. Many rural communities need to complete water and waste disposal projects to improve the public health and environmental conditions of their citizens
- Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture
- No Description Available.
- Soil and Water Conservation Issues
- No Description Available.
- Soil and Water Conservation Issues
- No Description Available.
- Great Lakes Water Withdrawal: Legal and Policy Issues
- Report discussing the legal and policy issues regarding the Great Lakes region of the United States. According to the Summary: "This report describes the characteristics of the Great Lakes, the interests they support, and possible threats to lake levels. It analyzes the current laws and policies that regulate the diversion, withdrawal, and consumptive use of water from the Great Lakes. Also included is a discussion of the draft Agreement and Compact and the various positions voiced by interest groups. This report concludes with a general discussion on the relationship between compacts, federal law, and the Congress."
- Arsenic in Drinking Water: Regulatory Develpoments and Issues
- This report discusses issues regarding the arsenic’s health effects and how to reduce the uncertainty in assessing health risks associated with exposure to low levels of arsenic. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the current standard of 50 parts per billion (ppb) in 1975. . This report reviews EPA efforts to develop a new arsenic rule and summarizes key provisions and subsequent events.
- Army Corps of Engineers Water Resources Activities: Authorization and Appropriations
- This report contains the authorization and appropriations of the Army Corps of Engineers on the water resources activities.
- Delegation of the Federal Power of Eminent Domain to Nonfederal Entities
- Congress has on several occasions delegated its power of eminent domain to entities outside the federal government -- public and private corporations, interstate compact agencies, state and local governments, and even individuals. The constitutionality of such delegation, and of the exercise of such power by even private delegates, is today beyond dispute. However, among delegates with both federal and private characteristics, there is some subjectivity to deciding which to list in a report limited to "nonfederal entities." For delegatees of federal eminent domain power listed here, delegations since 1920 have primarily been to Amtrak, hydroelectric facilities (for dams and reservoirs), and entities engaged in the movement of electricity, gas, and petroleum (the last one expired), and for interstate bridges.
- Animal Waste and Water Quality: EPA's Response to the Waterkeeper Alliance Court Decision on Regulation of CAFOs
- This report discusses the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the discharge of pollutants from any "point source" to waters of the United States unless authorized under a permit that is issued by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a qualified state. The act also expressly defines confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) as point sources.
- Inland Waterways: Recent Proposals and Issues For Congress
- This brief discusses the major issues for Congress which include whether to increase inland waterway funding in the future (and by what amount); the appropriate type of revenue stream (e.g., fuel taxes or lockage fees) for the user-required portion of these projects; division of the cost-share responsibilities between the federal government and commercial users (e.g., 50/50 or some other division); and whether to initiate process-based recommendations that some argue will improve the delivery and efficiency of Corps-led IWTF projects.
- EPA and the Army Corps' Proposed Rule to Define "Waters of the United States"
- This report describes the March 25, 2014 proposed rule to define "waters of the United States," particularly focused on clarifying the regulatory status of waters located in isolated places in a landscape, the types of waters with ambiguous jurisdictional status following the Supreme Court's ruling. It includes a table comparing the proposal to existing regulatory language.
- EPA and the Army Corps' "Waters of the United States" Rule: Congressional Response and Options
- This report discusses several options Congress had in order to respond to controversy caused by the May 27th, 2015 rule that was finalized by the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This finalized rule revised regulations that defined the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Congress' legislative options are reflected in bills in the 114th Congress.