	Introduction

Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established nearly 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. 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 favored focusing legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected CWA programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. Also on the congressional agenda was consideration of the geographic reach of the CWA over the nation's waters and wetlands, in light of court rulings—including two Supreme Court decisions—that have narrowed the law's regulatory jurisdiction, but in ways that are somewhat unclear. Two CWA issues that have been the focus of much of legislators' interest in recent Congresses received some attention again—water infrastructure financing, and regulatory protection of wetlands—but with different focus than in the recent past, as congressional leadership and priorities shifted after the November 2010 election. A number of other water quality issues were on Congress's agenda through oversight and legislation, as well. At issue has been what the federal role should be in assisting states and cities, especially in view of such high projected funding needs. In that Congress, House and Senate committees approved bills to extend the act's SRF program and increase federal assistance ( H.R. In the 109 th Congress, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved S. 1400 , which was similar to S. 2550 in the 108 th Congress. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved S. 3617 , a bill that was similar to the committee's bill in the 109 th Congress, but no further action occurred. Reauthorization legislation was introduced in the House ( H.R. 3145 ), but no further action occurred. 4304 , which would have amended the CWA with a narrow definition of waters that are subject to the act's jurisdiction. Attention to similar issues occurred in the 112 th Congress, with some legislators highly critical of recent regulatory initiatives and others more supportive of EPA's implementation efforts. 3852 ), but no legislation was enacted. One proposal ( H.R. None of these bills was enacted. 112-74 , omnibus legislation providing full-year FY2012 appropriations for EPA, which was enacted in December 2011. The legislation, as enacted, did not include a number of policy issue amendments included in an earlier House-passed CR that intended to prohibit funding for a number of EPA regulatory activities discussed previously in this report, including implementation of the Administration's regulatory initiatives on mountaintop mining in Appalachia; implementation of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL; and implementation or enforcement of the November 2010 Florida numeric nutrient water quality standards rule. In addition, H.R. 6091 ).
Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established nearly 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 assistance for municipal wastewater treatment projects. House and Senate committees have approved bills on several occasions, but, for various reasons, no legislation 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 as much as $390 billion. In the 111th Congress, the House passed H.R. 1262 to reauthorize the CWA's State Revolving Fund (SRF) program to finance wastewater infrastructure, and a companion bill, S. 1005, was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. No legislation was enacted. Reauthorization legislation was introduced again in the 112th Congress (H.R. 3145), but no further action occurred.
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 for 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. In the 111th Congress, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a bill that sought to clarify but not expand the CWA's geographic scope (S. 787). Because some stakeholders believe that the bills would expand federal jurisdiction—not simply clarify it—the bills were controversial, and no legislation was enacted. In contrast to approaches reflected in earlier proposals, bills in the 112th Congress would have narrowed the scope of the act's jurisdiction (S. 2122/H.R. 4304).
These issues drew interest in the 112th Congress, as well. In addition, a number of other CWA issues were the subject of congressional oversight and legislation, with some legislators highly critical of recent regulatory initiatives and others more supportive of EPA's actions. Among the topics of interest were 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 was reflected in debate over policy provisions of legislation to provide appropriations for EPA in FY2012 (P.L. 112-74) and FY2013 (H.R. 6091).