III 

★(Star Print)

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 46 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

Act Amendments of 1972, commonly known as the ‘‘Clean Water Act’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. KAINE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. KING, and Mr. PETERS) submitted the following concurrent 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Federal Water 

Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, commonly 

known as the ‘‘Clean Water Act’’. 

Whereas the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92–500; 86 Stat. 816), including the amendments made by that Act (collectively 

commonly known and referred to in this preamble as the 

‘‘Clean Water Act’’), is one of the most important environmental laws in the United States and the Nation’s 

principal safeguard against pollution, degradation, and 

destruction of surface waters, including streams, rivers, 

wetlands, and lakes; 


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SCON 46 IS1S 

Whereas the Clean Water Act has made progress towards the 

objective of the legislation to ‘‘restore and maintain the 

chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s 

waters’’ by— 

(1) significantly reducing water pollution; 

(2) substantially improving the quality of tens of 

thousands of waterbodies; and 

(3) dramatically reducing the rate of wetlands loss; 

Whereas, despite the improvements brought about by the 

Clean Water Act, failure to fully achieve the intended 

goals of the Clean Water Act are due to— 

(1) changes to interpretation of the Clean Water 

Act, which has weakened protections for our waters; 

(2) lack of adequate and equitable investments in 

clean water infrastructure and funding to implement and 

enforce the Clean Water Act; and 

(3) weak and inequitable enforcement and implementation of critical provisions of the Clean Water Act; and 

Whereas, as the United States embarks on the next 50 years 

of the Clean Water Act, Congress envisions a law that— 

(1) expands access to clean water for every community by— 

(A) protecting waters with cultural, historical, 

spiritual, and religious significance; 

(B) ensuring that rivers, streams, and other 

waterbodies are fishable and swimmable and serve as 

safe and reliable sources of recreation, drinking 

water, and subsistence; 

(C) restoring and safeguarding waterways and 

wetlands that provide vital fish and wildlife habitat 

and protect communities from floods and droughts; 

and 


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(D) making healthy shorelines, waterfronts, and 

water-related recreation available and welcoming to 

all; 

(2) prioritizes affordable clean water investments in 

Black, Indigenous, People of Color, low-wealth, and other 

communities that have been most harmed by pollution; 

(3) incentivizes natural infrastructure and naturebased solutions; 

(4) builds climate resiliency and mitigation of climate impacts into our water infrastructure; 

(5) supports robust, transparent, and meaningful 

community engagement and community-led solutions and 

decisionmaking, including meaningfully incorporating the 

perspectives and solutions of Tribal communities; 

(6) ensures affordable clean water services for all; 

(7) protects and restores ecosystems by— 

(A) eliminating harmful algal blooms, algal toxins in drinking water supplies, and ‘‘dead zones’’ by 

reducing inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus from the 

most significant sources; 

(B) preventing destruction and degradation of 

remaining wetlands and restoring and protecting 

wetlands across the country; 

(C) restoring all waters, especially the most polluted waterways and waterways in the communities 

most impacted by pollution; 

(D) incorporating climate change science and 

modeling and indigenous knowledge into planning 

and restoration efforts; 

(E) improving water quality, healthy river 

flows, and groundwater recharge; 

(F) removing outdated infrastructure that is 

adversely impacting the health of waters; and 


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(G) supporting significant protected areas and 

free-flowing riverine systems, including components 

of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, 

units of the National Park System, National Forests, units of the Wildlife Refuge System, and components of the National Wilderness Preservation 

System; 

(8) promotes an inclusive, transparent, and equitable 

approach to policy development, based on best available 

science, by— 

(A) proactively protecting human health and 

the environment from discharges of harmful pollutants, including new, emerging, and toxic contaminants; 

(B) basing decisions on the most credible climate projections; 

(C) accepting community-sourced and peer-reviewed science as a source of data for decisionmaking related to the Clean Water Act; 

(D) ensuring that all decisions comply with the 

full suite of applicable laws; 

(E) ensuring that States are consistent and 

timely in implementation of the Clean Water Act; 

and 

(F) increasing the reach and accuracy of water 

quality monitoring and assessment by providing 

funding to States, agencies, and other organizations 

conducting such activities; and 

(9) holds polluters accountable by including stronger 

enforcement measures, including— 

(A) prioritizing prosecutions of violations of the 

Clean Water Act that have affected Black, IndigeVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Nov 28, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC46.IS SC46

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SCON 46 IS1S 

nous, People of Color, low-wealth, and other communities that have been most harmed by pollution; 

(B) ensuring that Federal and State agencies 

carefully, clearly, and equitably apply the requirements of the Clean Water Act; 

(C) providing the resources needed to ensure 

that Federal and State agencies have the capacity to 

effectively implement and enforce the Clean Water 

Act; and 

(D) protecting our cleanest and most outstanding waters through classification of Outstanding National Resources Waters: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 

4 enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

5 Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92–500; 86 

6 Stat. 816), including the amendments made by that 

7 Act (collectively commonly known and referred to in 

8 this resolution as the ‘‘Clean Water Act’’); 

9 (2) recognizes the historic achievements in im10 proving water quality that have been made during 

11 the 50 years of implementation of the Clean Water 

12 Act; and 

13 (3) recognizes and seeks to address the short14 comings of the Clean Water Act in restoring and 


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1 maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological in2 tegrity of the Nation’s waters, including by— 

3 (A) expanding access to clean water for 

4 every community; 

5 (B) recognizing that a robust Clean Water 

6 Act is critical for the protection of human and 

7 environmental health, for the promotion of 

8 healthy and robust economies, and for main9 taining a healthy quality of life; 

10 (C) increasing clean water infrastructure 

11 investments in communities throughout the Na12 tion and targeting increased and affordable in13 vestments in communities most at risk of con14 tinued pollution; 

15 (D) addressing climate resiliency and miti16 gation of climate impacts on clean water infra17 structure; 

18 (E) promoting an inclusive, transparent, 

19 and equitable approach to Clean Water Act pol20 icy development, based on the best available 

21 science; 

22 (F) holding polluters accountable; and 


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1 (G) ensuring the protection and restoration 

2 of rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and natural 

3 ecosystems. 

Æ 


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