Water Quality Issues in the 114th Congress: An Overview (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Dec. 13, 2016 |
| Report Number |
R43867 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established more than 40 years ago to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters. However, long-standing problems persist, and new problems have emerged. Water quality problems are diverse, ranging from pollution runoff from farms and ranches, city streets, and other diffuse or 'nonpoint' sources, to 'point' source discharges of metals and organic and inorganic toxic substances from factories and sewage treatment plants. The principal law that deals with polluting activity in the nation's streams, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters is the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P.L. 92-500, enacted in 1972), commonly known as the Clean Water Act, or CWA. It consists of two major parts: regulatory provisions that impose progressively more stringent requirements on industries and cities to abate pollution and meet the statutory goal of zero discharge of pollutants; and provisions that authorize federal financial assistance for municipal wastewater treatment plant construction. [â¦] The Clean Water Act has been viewed as one of the most successful environmental laws in terms of achieving its statutory goals, which have been widely supported by the public. Lately, however, some have questioned whether additional actions to achieve further benefits are worth the costs, especially in view of the continuing problems of the U.S. economy.
