	Introduction

Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established 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. Authorizations of appropriations for some programs provided in P.L. Authorizations for wastewater treatment funding expired in FY1994. However, there is less agreement about what solutions are needed and whether new legislation is required. Several key water quality issues exist: what additional actions should be taken to implement existing provisions of the law, whether additional steps are necessary to achieve overall goals of the act that have not yet been attained, how to ensure that progress made to date is not lost through diminished attention to water quality needs, and what is the appropriate federal role in guiding and paying for clean water infrastructure and other activities. For some time, efforts to comprehensively amend the act have stalled as interests have debated whether and exactly how to change the law. These factors partly explain why Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected CWA programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. Other factors also have been at work. These include a general reluctance by some Members of Congress to address controversial environmental issues in view of the relatively slim majorities held by political parties in the House and the Senate; a lack of legislative initiatives by the Administration on clean water issues (neither the Clinton nor the Bush Administration proposed CWA legislation, nor has the Obama Administration); and the high economic cost of addressing water infrastructure issues. The act's program of financial aid for municipal wastewater treatment plant construction is a key contributor to that effort. Legislative Responses

Congress has considered water infrastructure funding issues several times since the 107 th Congress, but no legislation other than appropriations has been enacted. 3080 / P.L. 113-121 were included in other legislation ( H.R. Regulatory Protection of Wetlands

How best to protect the nation's remaining wetlands and regulate activities taking place in wetlands has become one of the most contentious environmental policy issues. On March 25, 2014, the agencies released a proposed rule. Obama Administration officials have addressed concerns about the continuing uncertainties regarding the proper scope of CWA regulatory jurisdiction. Other Clean Water Act Issues

A number of other issues affecting efforts to achieve the goals and objectives of the CWA have drawn interest recently and been the subject of congressional oversight and legislation. Some legislators have been highly critical of recent regulatory initiatives, while others have been more supportive of EPA's implementation efforts. Critics of the Administration, both within Congress and outside of it, have accused the agency of reaching beyond the authority given it by Congress and ignoring or underestimating the costs and economic impacts of these rules. That ruling has been appealed. In January 2014, the court agreed to amend the 2009 consent decree in light of the adoption of new nutrient criteria, thus lifting the requirement for EPA to issue numeric nutrient standards under the second phase of rulemaking, and in September, EPA finalized a rule withdrawing the overlapping federally promulgated water quality standards to allow Florida to implement its standards to address nutrient pollution. In July 2011 EPA issued guidance on review of CWA Section 402 and 404 permit requests for surface coal mining in Appalachia. General permits are intended to minimize regulatory burdens on pesticide applicators and state permitting officials, but there still has been significant concern about impacts of EPA's actions.
Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established 40 years ago in the Clean Water Act (CWA) 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 toxic substances discharged from factories and sewage treatment plants.
There is little agreement among stakeholders about what solutions are needed and whether new legislation is required to address the nation's remaining water pollution problems. 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.
For several years, the most prominent legislative water quality issue has concerned financial aid for municipal wastewater treatment projects. House and Senate committees have approved bills to reauthorize CWA assistance on several occasions since the 107th Congress, but, for various reasons, no legislation other than appropriations has been enacted. At issue has been the role of the federal government in assisting 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 nearly $300 billion over the next 20 years. Congress agreed to legislation that creates a pilot program to provide federal loans for wastewater infrastructure (H.R. 3080/P.L. 113-121). The same legislation also revises certain of the water infrastructure provisions of the CWA.
Programs that regulate activities in wetlands also have been of interest, especially CWA Section 404, which has been criticized by landowners for intruding on private land-use decisions and imposing excessive economic burdens. Environmentalists view this regulatory program as essential for maintaining the health of wetland ecosystems, and they are concerned about court rulings that have narrowed regulatory protection of wetlands and about related administrative actions. Many stakeholders desire clarification of the act's regulatory jurisdiction, but they differ on what solutions are appropriate. On March 25, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed a rule intended to clarify jurisdictional issues, but interpretive questions about the proposal remain controversial inside and outside of Congress. The agencies expect to issue a final rule by April 2015.
A number of other CWA issues have been the subject of congressional oversight and legislation, with some legislators highly critical of recent regulatory initiatives and others more supportive of EPA's actions. Some issues have drawn policy makers' attention following court rulings that addressed and in several cases expanded the regulatory scope of water quality protection efforts under the law. Among the topics of interest have been environmental and economic impacts of Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, federal promulgation of water quality standards in Florida, regulation of surface coal mining activities in Appalachia, and other CWA regulatory actions. Congressional interest in several of these issues has been reflected in specific legislative proposals and debate over policy provisions of legislation to provide appropriations for EPA. In the 113th Congress, Members from both parties raised questions about the cost-effectiveness of some of EPA's actions and/or whether the agency has exceeded its authority.