Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007

A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the United States.

7/25/2007--Introduced.
Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to replace the term "navigable waters," throughout the 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 shall be construed as affecting the authority of the Secretary of the Army or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control 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; or
(3) of dredged or fill materials resulting from normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities or from activities with respect to which a state has an approved program, or for the purposes of maintenance of currently serviceable structures, 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 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.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Russell Feingold [D, WI]
• and 20 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
  • Sen. Sherrod Brown [D, OH]
  • Sen. Maria Cantwell [D, WA]
  • Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD]
  • Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE]
  • Sen. Christopher Dodd [D, CT]
  • Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
  • Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
  • Sen. Herbert Kohl [D, WI]
  • Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
  • Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
  • Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]
  • Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
  • Sen. Robert Menendez [D, NJ]
  • Sen. John Reed [D, RI]
  • Sen. Bernard Sanders [I, VT]
  • Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY]
  • Sen. Debbie Ann Stabenow [D, MI]
  • Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D, RI]
  • Sen. Ron Wyden [D, OR]
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Committees

• Senate Environment and Public Works

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.1870

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
July 25, 2007

Show All Actions (5 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Apr 09, 2008: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Hearings held.
• Apr 09, 2008: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Date of scheduled hearing. SD-406. 10:00 a.m.
• Jul 25, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
• Jul 25, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9918-9919)
• Introduced on Jul 25, 2007.

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Related Bills:

• H.R.2421

Related Issue Areas:

• Water pollution
• Agricultural pollution
• Agriculture
• Dredging
• 12 more
• Environmental protection
• Irrigation
• Lakes
• Marine resources
• Oil pollution
• Rivers
• Solid wastes
• Storm drains
• Territorial waters
• Water pollution control
• Water resources
• Wetlands

Data from the Congressional Research Service

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In the News

April 16, 2008 Congress to Hold Largest Hearing Ever on Clean Water Legislation

... bill numbers HR2421 & S.1870 ) By EPA's own estimates, 59% of the nation's streams are either first order ( headwater ) streams or are seasonal. ...

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Source: Media Newswire (press release), NY

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April 11, 2008 Cattlemen's Capitol Concerns: Columbia Trade, Farm Bill, NCBA ...

S.1870 proposes to strike the word “navigable” from the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) definition of “waters of the United States ,” which would greatly expand the ...

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Source: CattleNetwork.com, KS

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April 10, 2008 Montana rancher testifies against federal water jurisdiction

Supporters of S. 1870 contend the bill simply restores the original intent of Congress with regard to the Clean Water Act. But, Smith soundly rejected that ...

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Source: The Prairie Star, MT

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Blog Coverage

May 09, 2008 Cattlemen oppose expansion of federal water jurisdiction - High ...

Cattlemen oppose expansion of federal water jurisdictionHigh Plains Journal, KS - 1 hour agoSupporters of S. 1870 contend the bill simply restores the original intent of Congress with regard to the Clean Water Act. But Smith soundly ...

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Source: Clean and Abundant Water

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April 24, 2008 Cattlemen’s Concerns

S.1870 proposes to strike the word navigable from the Clean Water Acts (CWA) definition of waters of the United States, which would greatly expand the reach of the CWA. NCBA and the Montana Stockgrowers Association do not agree that ...

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Source: Boisecitynews2's Weblog

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April 21, 2008 Thoughts About the Economic World Situation, v2, 7

2421, S. 1870) in September or October. If passed, this legislation would place all the waters in the United States under federal jurisdiction, threatening the rights of an unknown number of property owners." ...

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Source: Red Pills

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