I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 962

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction 

of the United States over waters of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2003

Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LEACH, Mr. 

HOEFFEL, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 

California, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, and Mrs. TAUSCHER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify 

the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the 

United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Water Authority 

5 Restoration Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
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1 (1) To reaffirm the original intent of Congress 

2 in enacting the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

3 Amendments of 1972 (86 Stat. 816) to restore and 

4 maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integ5 rity of the waters of the United States. 

6 (2) To clearly define the waters of the United 

7 States that are subject to the Federal Water Pollu8 tion Control Act. 

9 (3) To provide protection to the waters of the 

10 United States to the fullest extent of the legislative 

11 authority of Congress under the Constitution. 

12 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

13 Congress finds the following: 

14 (1) Water is a unique and precious resource 

15 that is necessary to sustain human life and the life 

16 of animals and plants. 

17 (2) Water is used not only for human, animal, 

18 and plant consumption, but is also important for ag19 riculture, transportation, flood control, energy pro20 duction, recreation, fishing and shellfishing, and mu21 nicipal and commercial uses. 

22 (3) In enacting amendments to the Federal 

23 Water Pollution Control Act in 1972 and through 

24 subsequent amendment, including the Clean Water 

25 Act of 1977 (91 Stat. 1566) and the Water Quality 
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1 Act of 1987 (101 Stat. 7), Congress established the 

2 national objective of restoring and maintaining the 

3 chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the wa4 ters of the United States and recognized that achiev5 ing this objective requires uniform, minimum na6 tional water quality and aquatic ecosystem protec7 tion standards to restore and maintain the natural 

8 structures and functions of the aquatic ecosystems 

9 of the United States. 

10 (4) Water is transported through inter11 connected hydrologic cycles, and the pollution, im12 pairment, or destruction of any part of an aquatic 

13 system may affect the chemical, physical, and bio14 logical integrity of other parts of the aquatic system. 

15 (5) Protection of intrastate waters, along with 

16 other waters of the United States, is necessary to re17 store and maintain the chemical, physical, and bio18 logical integrity of all waters in the United States. 

19 (6) The regulation of discharges of pollutants 

20 into interstate and intrastate waters is an integral 

21 part of the comprehensive clean water regulatory 

22 program of the United States. 

23 (7) Small and periodically-flowing streams com24 prise the majority of all stream channels in the 

25 United States and serve critical biological and 
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1 hydrological functions that affect entire watersheds, 

2 including reducing the introduction of pollutants to 

3 large streams and rivers, and especially affecting the 

4 life cycles of aquatic organisms and the flow of high5 er order streams during floods. 

6 (8) The pollution or other degradation of wa7 ters of the United States, individually and in the ag8 gregate, has a substantial relation to and effect on 

9 interstate commerce. 

10 (9) Protection of the waters of the United 

11 States, including intrastate waters, is necessary to 

12 prevent significant harm to interstate commerce and 

13 sustain a robust system of interstate commerce in 

14 the future. 

15 (10) Waters, including wetlands, provide protec16 tion from flooding, and draining or filling wetlands 

17 and channelizing or filling streams, including intra18 state wetlands and streams, can cause or exacerbate 

19 flooding, placing a significant burden on interstate 

20 commerce.

21 (11) Millions of people in the United States de22 pend on wetlands and other waters of the United 

23 States to filter water and recharge surface and sub24 surface drinking water supplies, protect human 

25 health, and create economic opportunity. 
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1 (12) Millions of people in the United States 

2 enjoy recreational activities that depend on intra3 state waters, such as waterfowl hunting, bird watch4 ing, fishing, and photography and other graphic 

5 arts, and those activities and associated travel gen6 erate billions of dollars of income each year for the 

7 travel, tourism, recreation, and sporting sectors of 

8 the economy of the United States. 

9 (13) Activities that result in the discharge of 

10 pollutants into waters of the United States are com11 mercial or economic in nature. 

12 (14) States have the responsibility and right to 

13 prevent, reduce, and eliminate pollution of waters, 

14 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act re15 spects the rights and responsibilities of States by 

16 preserving for States the ability to manage permit17 ting, grant, and research programs to prevent, re18 duce, and eliminate pollution, and to establish stand19 ards and programs more protective of a State’s wa20 ters than is provided under Federal standards and 

21 programs. 

22 (15) Protecting the quality of and regulating 

23 activities affecting the waters of the United States 

24 is a necessary and proper means of implementing 

25 treaties to which the United States is a party, in-
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1 cluding treaties protecting species of fish, birds, and 

2 wildlife. 

3 (16) Protecting the quality of and regulating 

4 activities affecting the waters of the United States 

5 is a necessary and proper means of protecting Fed6 eral land, including hundreds of millions of acres of 

7 parkland, refuge land, and other land under Federal 

8 ownership and the wide array of waters encompassed 

9 by that land. 

10 (17) Protecting the quality of and regulating 

11 activities affecting the waters of the United States 

12 is necessary to protect Federal land and waters from 

13 discharges of pollutants and other forms of degrada14 tion. 

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

16 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

17 Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended—

18 (1) by striking paragraph (7); 

19 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through 

20 (23) as paragraphs (7) through (22), respectively; 

21 and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(23) WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES.—The 

24 term ‘waters of the United States’ means all waters 

25 subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial 
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1 seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and 

2 their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (in3 cluding intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, 

4 wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, 

5 playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of 

6 the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, 

7 or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the 

8 legislative power of Congress under the Constitu9 tion.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

11 The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

12 1251 et seq.) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘navigable waters of the United 

14 States’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘waters 

15 of the United States’’; 

16 (2) in section 304(l)(1) by striking ‘‘NAVIGABLE

17 WATERS’’ in the heading and inserting ‘‘WATERS OF

18 THE UNITED STATES’’; and 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each place it 

20 appears and inserting ‘‘waters of the United 

21 States’’.

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