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      "title": "Water Quality Issues in the 110th Congress: Oversight and Implementation",
      "summary": "Although much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established more than 35 years ago in the Clean Water Act (CWA) to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation\u2019s waters, 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 \u201cnonpoint\u201d sources, to toxic substances discharged from factories and sewage treatment plants.\nThere is little agreement among stakeholders about what solutions are needed and whether new legislation is required to address the nation\u2019s remaining water pollution problems. Several key water quality issues exist: evaluating actions to implement existing provisions of the law, assessing whether additional steps are necessary to achieve overall goals of the act that have not yet been attained, ensuring that progress made to date is not lost through diminished attention to water quality needs, and defining the appropriate federal role in guiding and paying for clean water infrastructure and other activities. For some time, efforts to comprehensively amend the CWA have stalled as interests have debated whether and exactly how to change the law. Congress has instead focused legislative attention on enacting narrow bills to extend or modify selected CWA programs, but not any comprehensive proposals.\nFor several years, the most prominent legislative water quality issue has concerned financial assistance for municipal wastewater treatment projects, and it has been in focus in the 110th Congress, as well: the House passed three bills dealing with wastewater infrastructure financing (H.R. 720, H.R. 700, and H.R. 569), and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved another, S. 3500. At issue is how the federal government will assist states and cities in meeting needs to rebuild, repair, and upgrade wastewater treatment plants, especially in light of capital costs that are projected to be as much as $390 billion.\nAlso of interest have been programs that regulate activities in wetlands, especially CWA Section 404, which has been criticized by landowners for intruding on private land-use decisions and imposing excessive economic burdens. Environmentalists view these programs as essential for maintaining the health of wetland ecosystems, and they are concerned about court rulings that narrowed regulatory protection of wetlands and about related administrative actions. Many stakeholders desire clarification of the act\u2019s regulatory jurisdiction, but they differ on what solutions are appropriate. In the 110th Congress, committees held hearings on legislation that seeks to provide that clarification (H.R. 2421, S. 1870).\nOther issues discussed in this report that also have been of interest in Congress include implementation of current programs to manage stormwater discharges and nonpoint sources of pollution, as these are major contributors to water quality impairments across the country; implementation of rules governing discharges of wastes from large animal feeding operations; and implications of court rulings for the scope of the act\u2019s discharge permit requirements.",
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