Congressional Research Service Reports - 82 Matching Results
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- Clean Water Action Plan: Budgetary Initiatives
- In October 1997, Vice President Gore directed federal agencies to develop a Clean Water Initiative to improve and strengthen water pollution control efforts. The multiagency plan was released on Feb. 19, 1998, and identifies nearly 100 key actions. Most are existing activities, now labeled as part of the Initiative. The President's FY1999 budget requests $2.2 billion for five departments and agencies to fund implementation of the Plan. While Congress is considering appropriations bills to fund the Plan, federal agencies are beginning or accelerating activities to carry out the actions under the Plan.
- Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture
- 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.
- Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture
- No Description Available.
- Clean Water Issues in the 107th Congress: An Overview
- Key water quality issues that may face the 107th Congress include: actions to implement existing provisions of the Clean Water Act, whether additional steps are necessary to achieve overall goals of the Act, and the appropriate federal role in guiding and paying for clean water activities. This Act is the principal law that deals with polluting activity in the nation’s lakes, rivers, and coastal waters and authorizes funds to aid construction of municipal wastewater treatment plants. Legislative prospects for comprehensively amending it have been stalled over whether and exactly how to change the law.
- Endocrine Disruption: An Introduction
- 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 consider proposals to increase or decrease funding for the endocrine disruption screening program, or to expand its requirements to include additional chemicals or hormone functions.
- National Estuary Program: A Collaborative Approach to Protecting Coastal Water Quality
- This report discusses National Estuary Program and is based on 11 of the 28 estuaries that are currently in the National Estuary Program which represent common environmental problems along the nation’s coastline: on the Pacific Coast, the Columbia River, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, and Santa Monica Bay; on the Atlantic Coast, Albemarle-Pamlico Sound, Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, and Maryland’s coastal bays (excluding Chesapeake Bay); and on the Gulf of Mexico, Charlotte Harbor, Corpus Christi Bay, and Sarasota Bay.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- 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 the law. EPA and others are critical of states, in turn, for not reaching beyond conventional knowledge and institutional approaches to address their water quality problems. Environmental groups have been criticized for insufficient recognition of EPA's and states' need for flexibility to implement the Act. Finally, Congress has been criticized for not providing adequate funding and resources to meet EPA and state needs.
- Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
- 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.
- Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations
- No Description Available.
- Clean Water Act: A Summary of the Law
- This report presents a summary of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, or Clean Water Act, describing the essence of the statute without discussing its implementation.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
- 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.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
- 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.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Animal Waste and Water Quality: EPA Regulation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
- This report describes the revised environmental rules of the Clean Water Act, the background of previous Clean Water Act rules and the Clinton Administration proposal for revising these rules, and perspectives of key interest groups on the proposal and final regulations. It also identifies several issues likely to be of congressional interest as implementation of the revised rules proceeds.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Phosphorus Mitigation in the Everglades
- This report discusses the FY2004 appropriations provisions that condition federal funding for Everglades restoration on compliance with water quality standards, provides a side-by-side analysis of pending appropriations legislation, and provides background and a timeline of efforts to address Everglades phosphorus pollution (from Summary).
- Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
- 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 of this provision has been dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits. The TMDL issue has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs now facing states to implement a 25-year-old provision of the law. Congressional activity to reauthorize the Act, a possibility in the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, could include TMDL issues, but the direction for any such action is unclear at this time.
- Stormwater Permits: Status of EPA's Regulatory Program
- No Description Available.
- Federally Supported Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Programs
- This report provides background information on the types of water supply and wastewater treatment projects traditionally funded by the federal government and the several existing programs to assist communities with water supply and wastewater recycling and treatment. These projects and programs are found primarily within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Commerce, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: Program Overview and Issues
- In the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996 (P.L. 104-182), Congress authorized a drinking water state revolving loan fund (DWSRF) program to help public water systems finance infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to protect public health. Under the program, states receive capitalization grants to make loans to water systems for drinking water projects and certain other SDWA activities. Since the program was first funded in FY1997, Congress has provided $7.8 billion, including roughly $844 million for FY2005. The President has requested $850 million for FY2006. Through June 2004, the DWSRF program had provided $7.9 billion in assistance and had supported 6,500 projects.
- Water Infrastructure Financing: History of EPA Appropriations
- This report summarizes, in chronological order, congressional activity to fund items in the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account since 1987. In appropriations legislation, funding for EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) wastewater assistance is contained in the measure providing funds for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Federally Supported Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Programs
- This report provides background information on the types of water supply and wastewater treatment projects traditionally funded by the federal government and the several existing programs to assist communities with water supply and wastewater recycling and treatment.
- The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: History, Perspectives, and Issues
- No Description Available.
- The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: History, Perspectives, and Issues
- No Description Available.
- U.S. Disposal of Chemical Weapons in the Ocean: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- U.S. Disposal of Chemical Weapons in the Ocean: Background and Issues for Congress
- No Description Available.
- Clean Water Act Section 401: Background and Issues
- 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 in this area dismayed development and hydroelectric power interest groups. The Court revisited these issues in a 2006 ruling that unanimously upheld the states' authority to condition hydropower licenses. The dispute between states and industry groups about Section 401 authority has been a legislative issue on several occasions, but Congress has not responded by modifying the provision's scope. In addition, there has been interest in clarifying whether Section 401 certification applies to nonpoint source discharges, such as rainfall runoff, as well as point source discharges from pipes or ditches.
- Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
- This report discusses the section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, which 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 of this provision has been dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits. The TMDL issue has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs now facing states to implement a 25-year-old provision of the law. Congressional activity to reauthorize the Act, a possibility in the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, could include TMDL issues, but the direction for any such action is unclear at this time.
- Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act
- No Description Available.
- Ocean Dumping Act: A Summary of the Law
- This report presents a summary of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (MPRSA, P.L. 92-532), describing the essence of the statute. The law has two basic aims: to regulate intentional ocean disposal of materials, and to authorize related research.
- Arsenic in Drinking Water: Regulatory Developments and Issues
- This report discusses the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments. These amendments directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update the standard for arsenic in drinking water.
- Mountaintop Mining: Background on Current Controversies
- This report provides background on regulatory requirements, controversies, and legal challenges to Clean Water Act regulation of mountaintop mining. Congressional attention to these issues also is discussed.
- Water Quality Issues in the 110th Congress: Oversight and Implementation
- This report discusses issues surrounding the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 and programs set up to meet the water quality standards that it outlined. The report focuses specifically on the legislative issues for the 110th Congress in relation to the CWA. It also includes a brief comparison of the expected appropriations for FY2007 and FY2008.
- Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
- This report discusses the section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, which 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 states and EPA were prodded by lawsuits. The TMDL program has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs now facing states to implement this 35-year-old provision of the law, as well as industries, cities, farmers, and others who may be required to use new pollution controls to meet TMDL requirements. In July 2000, EPA issued revisions to strengthen the program. The rule was widely criticized, and congressional interest was high. The 2000 rule did not go into effect, and in March 2003, EPA withdrew the rule to consider whether to issue an entirely new rule or other options; no timetable has been announced. Consequently, the program continues to operate under regulations issued in 1992.
- Ocean Dumping Act: A Summary of the Law
- The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act has two basic aims: to regulate intentional ocean disposal of materials, and to authorize related research. Permit and enforcement provisions of the law are often referred to as the Ocean Dumping Act. The basic provisions of the act have remained virtually unchanged since 1972, when it was enacted to establish a comprehensive waste management system to regulate disposal or dumping of all materials into marine waters that are within U.S. jurisdiction, although a number of new authorities have been added. This report presents a summary of the law.