Title: A concurrent resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, commonly known as the "Clean Water Act".
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
This concurrent resolution commemorates the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, commonly known as the Clean Water Act.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 46 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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;
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--

    G    (A) protecting waters with cultural, historical, spiritual, and 
religious significance;

    G    (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;

    G    (C) restoring and safeguarding waterways and wetlands that provide 
vital fish and wildlife habitat and protect communities from floods and 
droughts; and

    G    (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 nature-based 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--

    G    (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;

    G    (B) preventing destruction and degradation of remaining wetlands 
and restoring and protecting wetlands across the country;

    G    (C) restoring all waters, especially the most polluted waterways 
and waterways in the communities most impacted by pollution;

    G    (D) incorporating climate change science and modeling and 
indigenous knowledge into planning and restoration efforts;

    G    (E) improving water quality, healthy river flows, and groundwater 
recharge;

    G    (F) removing outdated infrastructure that is adversely impacting 
the health of waters; and

    G    (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--

    G    (A) proactively protecting human health and the environment from 
discharges of harmful pollutants, including new, emerging, and toxic 
contaminants;

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

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

    G    (D) ensuring that all decisions comply with the full suite of 
applicable laws;

    G    (E) ensuring that States are consistent and timely in 
implementation of the Clean Water Act; and

    G    (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--

    G    (A) prioritizing prosecutions of violations of the Clean Water Act 
that have affected Black, Indigenous, People of Color, low-wealth, and 
other communities that have been most harmed by pollution;

    G    (B) ensuring that Federal and State agencies carefully, clearly, 
and equitably apply the requirements of the Clean Water Act;

    G    (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

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

    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the enactment of 
        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 resolution as the ``Clean Water Act'');
            (2) recognizes the historic achievements in improving water 
        quality that have been made during the 50 years of 
        implementation of the Clean Water Act; and
            (3) recognizes and seeks to address the shortcomings of the 
        Clean Water Act in restoring and maintaining the chemical, 
        physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters, 
        including by--
                    (A) expanding access to clean water for every 
                community;
                    (B) recognizing that a robust Clean Water Act is 
                critical for the protection of human and environmental 
                health, for the promotion of healthy and robust 
                economies, and for maintaining a healthy quality of 
                life;
                    (C) increasing clean water infrastructure 
                investments in communities throughout the Nation and 
                targeting increased and affordable investments in 
                communities most at risk of continued pollution;
                    (D) addressing climate resiliency and mitigation of 
                climate impacts on clean water infrastructure;
                    (E) promoting an inclusive, transparent, and 
                equitable approach to Clean Water Act policy 
                development, based on the best available science;
                    (F) holding polluters accountable; and
                    (G) ensuring the protection and restoration of 
                rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and natural 
                ecosystems.
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