{
  "id": "RL30437",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30437",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101783,
      "date": "2000-12-20",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:31:23.083941",
      "title": "Water Quality Initiatives and Agriculture",
      "summary": "Congress most recently enacted amendments to the nation's water quality law, the Clean Water\nAct\n(CWA), in 1987. But national water quality policy has evolved in the intervening years, as a result\nof implementation of the 1987 amendments and related Administration initiatives intended to fulfill\nthe requirements and meet the goals and objectives of the Act. Agriculture, which has been a\nrelatively minor component of national water quality policies and programs, especially regulatory\npolicies, is now involved in several aspects of three recent initiatives.\n  In the Clean Water Action Plan, a Clinton Administration initiative intended to address the\nnation's remaining water quality challenges, several key actions focus on agriculture, federal lands,\nand forestry as part of the overall goal of the Plan to more effectively control nonpoint source\npollution. Specific outcomes, requirements affecting agriculture, if any, and any possible deadlines\nwill be evident as the key actions are set in motion.\n  One of the first Administration actions to carry out the Clean Water Action Plan was a national\nstrategy for addressing waste management by one segment of agriculture, animal feeding operations\n(AFOs). Under the AFO strategy, all operators of animal feedings operations are expected to\ndevelop and implement site-specific comprehensive nutrient management plans, while an estimated\n15,000 to 20,000 large AFOs and those contributing to water quality impairments will be priorities\nfor regulatory programs and enforcement.\n  A third policy development, separate from the Clean Water Action Plan, is implementation of\nexisting CWA requirements which concern measures to improve the quality of waters that remain\npollutant-impaired even after application of traditional pollution controls by industrial and municipal\n\"point sources.\" Most of agriculture is classified as a \"nonpoint source\" and is not subject to CWA\ncontrols. These requirements are the Act's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. As states\nimplement the TMDL program, where agricultural sources are identified as responsible for water\nquality impairments, they may be required to adopt control actions and/or management measures. \nDeterminations of impairments and required actions will be site-specific and variable. However,\nthere is controversy over whether nonpoint sources of pollution (diffuse runoff that does not come\nfrom a pipe, ditch, or similar conveyance) are lawfully covered by the TMDL program. If only point\nsources are covered, impacts on agriculture would be considerably fewer. Regulatory changes\nproposed in 1999 to strengthen the TMDL program were widely criticized by agriculture and forestry\ngroups, other industry groups, states and localities, and environmental groups. Final changes, issued\nin July 2000, dropped provisions that could have directly affected some in agriculture and forestry,\nbut the new rules remain controversial.\n  This report provides background on the Clean Water Action Plan, the Unified National AFO\nStrategy, and implementation of the TMDL provisions of the Clean Water Act. It includes a glossary\nof terms and a chronology of key dates and deadlines related to the initiatives.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30437",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Environmental Policy"
  ]
}