S. 787 would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the United States.
Detailed Summary
Clean Water Restoration Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to replace the term "navigable waters" that are subject to such Act with the term "waters of the United States," defined to mean all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting them, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.
Declares that nothing in such Act affects the authority of the Secretary of the Army or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the provisions of the Clean Water Act related to discharges: (1) composed entirely of return flows from irrigated agriculture; (2) of stormwater runoff from certain oil, gas, and mining operations composed entirely of flows from precipitation runoff conveyances, which are not contaminated by or in contact with specified materials; (3) of dredged or fill materials resulting from normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities, from upland soil and water conservation practices, or from activities with respect to which a state has an approved water quality regulatory program; or (4) of dredged or fill materials for the maintenance of currently serviceable structures, the construction or maintenance of farm or stock ponds, irrigation ditches and maintenance of drainage ditches, or farm, forest, or temporary roads for moving mining equipment in accordance with best management practices, or the construction of temporary sedimentation basins on construction sites for which discharges do not include placement of fill material into the waters of the United States.
Status of the Legislation
Latest Major Action: 12/10/2010: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 685.
Points in Favor
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Points Against
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Visitor Comments
AnnW
(logged-in user) June 12, 2009, 2:46pm (report abuse)This is why I'm against this bill.
THE GREAT WATER HEIST on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…xt=1&playnext_from=PL&index=40
L. Hansen
August 21, 2009, 12:48pm (report abuse)Cities and states already regulate this. This is excessive bureaucracy and overregulation. Did you know that if there is a pond in your neighborhood, you may already be charged thousands of dollars to bring it up to local regs and now Uncle Sam is reaching his ugly tentacles into your pocket. This will give the federal government control over YOUR WATER AND THE LAND IT SITS ON.
2old2givea
(logged-in user) December 13, 2009, 9:19pm (report abuse)OH, no, no, no and HELL NO! (Look how they've "handled" the water out in CA re the whole snail darter fiasco...) This is not only another way for the socialists (i.e., "Marxists"), currently in power to have more control over us. Think about it. This would give them power over all of our agricultural industries, livestock, etc., in addition to fish farms, etc. (I'm so mad I can barely type.) Hell, even if you don't have water on your property (I do), it's still going to affect you if you or your business uses water and that pretty much includes everyone. This should be one of the top stories on this site and in the news. (@WashingtonWatch: Maybe you need a category for bills that limit/remove freedoms. It's a thought...) More to come...
2old2givea
(logged-in user) December 13, 2009, 9:35pm (report abuse)I lived in SW GA for 10 years, '93 - '03. Still own property there which is surrounded by wetlands/swamps. I saw my neighbors getting strong-armed by the EPA. One neighbor, a doctor, had taken a low-lying, mosquito-breeding area of his property and spent a lot of money to make it into a very nice, large stocked fish pond, with a dirt road around it. He rec'd a phone call one night around 9pm from the EPA Nazis, saying he either had to build a dam (I was never sure why), or pay them something like $54,000. That night. Maybe it was the next morning. Either way... He of course chose to spend the money to build the dam.
Another neighbor faced a huge fine (in the tens of thousands), b/c he had pushed dead trees surrounding a wetland pond into the pond as they were dangerous to anyone driving near the pond and a fire hazard. (The fish love that sort of thing, and yes, you can have fires in wetlands.) To avoid the fine, he had to pay someone quite a bit to drag those trees out of the pond.
2old2givea
(logged-in user) December 13, 2009, 9:45pm (report abuse)Those were just two examples. I could go on. The EPA has been using this type of extortion for years. You can't call it anything else. These neighbors weren't endangering the "wetlands" or the wildlife. Neither was improved or helped by the actions they were forced to take.
The EPA has been a tool for the socialists/Marxists in this country for decades. They were cleaned out and up to some extent under Reagan, but have now gained power like they've never had before and it gives me the chills.
I agree this agency needs to be completely abolished & every law, every regulation even touched by them needs to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb. It won't happen under this administration, under this Congress, but eventually we're going to have to deal with them. They have WAY too much power and are making a grab for more. (That goes for EVERY "alphabet" agency. We need to clean house.)
PLEASE contact your Senators immediately. Control over food + water = control over YOU.
Dan
March 3, 2010, 9:44pm (report abuse)On March 1st the New York Times published a compelling article describing how the SWANCC and Rapanos Supreme Court decisions are hampering the ability of federal regulators to protect our nation's waters from pollution. Since 2001, Clean Water Act violations have risen while EPA enforcement has declined. According to this article, EPA regulators estimate that 1,500 major pollution cases have been halted in the last four years alone. Even more alarming, internal studies conducted by midlevel EPA officials indicate that as many as 45% of major polluters are now beyond regulatory reach.
water damage