IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 113 
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Federal Water Pollution Control 
Act Amendments of 1972, commonly known as the ‘‘Clean Water Act’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 14, 2022 
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. DINGELL, and Mr. 
BEYER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
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 (commonly 
known, and referred to in this resolution, as the ‘‘Clean 
Water Act’’) is one of the most important environmental 
laws in the United States and the Nation’s principal safe-
guard against pollution, degradation, and destruction of 
surface waters, including streams, rivers, wetlands, and 
lakes; 
Whereas implementation of the Clean Water Act has resulted 
in progress towards the objective of the legislation to ‘‘re-
store and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological 
integrity of the Nation’s waters’’ by— 
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(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 imple-
mentation of 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 have weakened protections for the Nation’s 
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 implemen-
tation of critical provisions of the Clean Water Act; 
Whereas, as the United States embarks on the next 50 years 
of the Clean Water Act, Congress envisions— 
(1) expanded access to clean water for every commu-
nity 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 
(D) making healthy shorelines, waterfronts, and 
water-related recreation available and welcoming to 
all; 
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(2) prioritizing affordable clean water investments 
for underserved and economically disadvantaged commu-
nities that have, historically, been most harmed by pollu-
tion; 
(3) providing incentives for natural infrastructure 
and nature-based solutions; 
(4) building climate resiliency and mitigation of cli-
mate impacts into the Nation’s water infrastructure; 
(5) supporting robust, transparent, and meaningful 
community engagement and community-led solutions and 
decisionmaking, including meaningfully incorporating the 
perspectives and solutions of Tribal communities; 
(6) ensuring affordable clean water services for all; 
(7) protecting and restoring ecosystems by— 
(A) eliminating harmful algal blooms, algal tox-
ins 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 pol-
luted 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 
(G) supporting significant protected areas and 
free-flowing riverine systems, including components 
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of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, 
units of the National Park System, national forests, 
units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, and 
components of the National Wilderness Preservation 
System; 
(8) promoting an inclusive, transparent, and equi-
table approach to policy development, based on the best 
available science, by— 
(A) proactively protecting human health and 
the environment from discharges of harmful pollut-
ants, including new, emerging, and toxic contami-
nants; 
(B) basing decisions on the most credible cli-
mate projections; 
(C) accepting community-sourced and peer-re-
viewed science as a source of data for decision-
making 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) holding polluters accountable through effective 
and consistent enforcement measures, including— 
(A) prioritizing prosecutions of violations of the 
Clean Water Act that have affected underserved and 
economically disadvantaged communities that have, 
historically, been most harmed by pollution; 
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