	Introduction

Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established more than 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 project funding expired in FY1994. Criticism also has come from developers and property rights groups who contend that federal regulations (particularly the act's wetlands permit program) are a costly intrusion on private land-use decisions. 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, if any, 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; whether existing regulatory authorities should be reduced; 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. In recent years, congressional attention turned significantly to oversight and legislation focused on criticism of EPA regulatory activities—particularly in the House, which has passed a number of bills to limit EPA's regulatory authority. Two CWA issues that have been the focus of much of legislators' interest in recent Congresses and are likely to be prominent in the 115 th Congress, as well—regulatory protection of wetlands, in relation to the scope of the regulatory jurisdiction of the CWA, and water infrastructure financing—are discussed next. But they acknowledged that it raised questions that required clarification in the final rule. But the uncertainties about federal jurisdiction over wetlands and other waters raised by the rulings remain highly controversial. Environmental advocates argue that legislation is needed to "reaffirm" what Congress intended when the CWA was enacted in 1972 and what EPA and the Corps have subsequently been practicing until the two Supreme Court rulings, in terms of CWA jurisdiction. The act's program of financial aid for municipal wastewater treatment plant construction is a key contributor to that effort. 113-121 ). However, in legislation enacted in December 2016, Congress appropriated $20 million that will allow EPA to begin making loans (see " FY2017 Appropriations "). Some of the provisions in P.L. Other Clean Water Act Issues

A number of other issues affecting efforts to achieve the goals and objectives of the CWA have drawn interest 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. In several cases, policymakers sought to curtail water quality protection initiatives under the CWA following court rulings that expanded the regulatory scope of the law. In the 114 th Congress, scrutiny of EPA initiatives continued to be intense, including those involving water quality. 113-121").
Much progress has been made in achieving the ambitious goals that Congress established in 1972 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, whether legislation is required to address the nation's remaining water pollution problems, or whether regulatory authorities should be reduced. 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 comprehensive proposals.
Programs that regulate activities in wetlands have been of particular interest recently, 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. Many stakeholders desire clarification of the act's regulatory jurisdiction, but they differ on what solutions are appropriate. In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers finalized a rule intended to clarify jurisdictional issues in light of two key Supreme Court rulings, but the rule, which has been stayed by a federal court, remains controversial inside and outside of Congress.
Another prominent water quality issue for some time has concerned financial aid for municipal wastewater treatment projects. House and Senate committees have approved bills to reauthorize CWA assistance on several occasions, but, for various reasons, no legislation other than appropriations was 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 systems, especially in light of capital costs that are projected to be more than $270 billion over the next 20 years. The 113th Congress enacted legislation that created a pilot program to provide federal credit assistance for water infrastructure projects (P.L. 113-121). In December 2016, the program received initial appropriated funds, and EPA expects to begin making loans in 2017. P.L. 113-121 also revised certain of the water infrastructure funding provisions of the CWA.
A number of other water quality issues have been the subject of congressional oversight and legislation for some time, with some legislators highly critical of EPA's recent regulatory initiatives and others more supportive. In several cases, policymakers have sought to curtail water quality protection initiatives under the CWA following court rulings that expanded the regulatory scope of the law. Among the topics of particular interest has been regulation of surface coal mining activities in Appalachia. Congressional interest in this and other topics has been reflected in specific legislative proposals and debate over policy provisions of bills providing appropriations for EPA. Members from both parties have raised questions about the cost-effectiveness of some of EPA's actions and whether the agency has exceeded its authority. In the 114th Congress, scrutiny of EPA initiatives continued to be intense.