Legislation

Listed below are selected federal water legislation from the 111th Congress.  Clean Water Network does not have a position on every bill listed and some are included for informational purposes only.  If you know of legislation that should be added to this page, please email jenniferpeters@cwn.org.

 

 

After nearly a decade of funding cuts under the Bush Administration, this bill appropriates a much needed 15% increase in funding over the previous fiscal year for the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service and other related agencies.  The bill provides $10.3 billion in funding for the EPA alone, $2.7 billion more than in 2009. 

Establishes the Twenty-First Century Water Commission to:
(1) project future water supply and demand;
(2) study current water management programs of federal, interstate, state, and local agencies and private sector entities directed at increasing water supplies and improving the availability, reliability, and quality of freshwater resources; and

Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations to reduce specified amounts of aggregate sulfur dioxide emissions and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants by January 1, 2012. Authorizes the regulations to include market-oriented mechanisms.

Sets forth provisions concerning clean energy, energy efficiency, reducing global warming pollution, transitioning to a clean energy economy, and providing for agriculture and forestry related offsets. Includes provisions: (1) creating a combined energy efficiency and renewable electricity standard and requiring retail electricity suppliers to meet 20% of their demand through renewable electricity and electricity savings by 2020; (2) setting a goal of, and requiring a strategic plan for, improving overall U.S.

Green Reserve in the Stimulus

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, EPA received $4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.  All States are required to allocate 20 percent of their SRF funds for projects that use green infrastructure.  According to EPA, 14 states have already awarded 20 percent or more of their Recovery Act funds for green infrastructure.  The remaining 36 states must fullfill this requirement by February 17, 2010, which EPA anticipates they will do.

Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act - Amends the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 to make permanent the authorization of appropriations for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network.

Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) publish a list of pathogens and pathogen indicators upon the publication of the new or revised water quality criteria; and (2) specify in performance criteria for monitoring and assessing coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches or similar points of interest (waters) available methods for monitoring protocols that are most likely to detect pathogenic contamination.

The purpose of this legislation is to create clean energy jobs, promote energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy. 

Includes many of the same elements relevant to water resources protection that are in the House bill, plus a few more:

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to define "fill material" to mean any pollutant that replaces portions of waters of the United States with dry land or that changes the bottom elevation of a water body for any purpose and to exclude any pollutant discharged into the water primarily to dispose of waste.

The Clean Water Restoration Act, the Network's #1 legislative priority, would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to replace the term "navigable waters" with the term "waters of the United States." Waters of the U.S.

Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize appropriations through FY2014 for: (1) the remediation of sediment contamination in Great Lakes areas of concern; (2) the public information program that provides information relating to the remediation of contaminated sediment to the public in U.S. areas of concern; and (3) research on the development and use of innovative approaches, technologies, and techniques for the remediation of sediment contamination in U.S.

Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to:
(1) repeal the exemption from restrictions on underground injection of fluids near drinking water sources granted to hydraulic fracturing operations under such Act; and
(2) require oil and gas companies to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.

Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to: (1) require certain vessels operating in U.S.

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) from intentionally diverting waste streams to bypass any portion of the treatment facility if the diversion results in a discharge into the Great Lakes unless:
(1) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;

Background: On December 3, Representatives Donna F. Edwards (D-MD-4), Russ Carnahan (D-MO-3), and Steve Driehaus (D-OH-1) introduced the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act of 2009 (H.R. 4202). Green Infrastructure is defined within the bill as a stormwater management technique that preserves the natural hydrology of an area to help reduce stormwater runoff from hard surfaces.

The purpose of this legislation is to improve the Federal Government's role in water research, development, demonstration, data collection, education, and technology transfer activities to address changes in water use, supply, and demand in the United States.


The purpose of this bill is to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ban the use of the arsenic compound known as roxarsone as a food additive.

Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to: (1) institute monitoring systems to provide timely alerts of sewer overflows; (2) notify the public, not later than 24 hours after receiving knowledge, of such overflows in areas where human health is potentially affected; (3) notify public health authorities and other affected entities, in the case of an overflow that may imminently and substantially endanger human health, immediately after

This bill would amend the federal Clean Water Act to ensure that the six states of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the District of Columbia develop and implement detailed plans to reduce pollution sufficiently to achieve the Bay-wide pollution reduction targets for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment by 2025. 

Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an in-depth analysis of the impact of energy development and production on U.S. water resources. Requires the study to include a lifecycle assessment of the quantity of water withdrawn and consumed in the production of transportation fuels or electricity.

Requires the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Assistant Administrator for Research and Development to establish a research and development program to promote water use efficiency and conservation, including:
(1) technologies and processes that enable the collection, storage, treatment, and reuse of rainwater, stormwater, and greywater;
(2) water storage and distribution systems; and

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act or CWA) to:
(1) authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a competitive grant program to provide technical assistance to small and medium treatment works on wastewater and stormwater approaches;

Water Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury the Water Protection and Reinvestment Trust Fund (Trust Fund) to support investments in clean water and drinking water infrastructure. Imposes through 2015: (1) an excise tax on the sale of containers of water-based beverages, water disposal products, and pharmaceutical products; and (2) a clean water tax on corporations. Appropriates revenues raised from such taxes to the Trust Fund.