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Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)
HR 4541 IH
December 14, 2005
Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. FILNER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. OWENS, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SABO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
- This Act may be cited as the `Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers Act of 2005'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
- Congress finds the following:
- (1) Polluted runoff from precipitation events is the greatest remaining impediment to the Nation in meeting the Clean Water Act objective of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters.
- (2) The rate of sediment runoff from construction sites is typically 10 to 20 times greater than the rate from agricultural lands and 1,000 to 2,000 times greater than the rate from forest lands.
- (3) During a short period of time, construction activities can contribute more sediment to streams than would otherwise be deposited over several decades, causing physical and biological harm to the Nation's waters.
- (4) Siltation is the second leading cause of water quality impairment in rivers and streams.
- (5) Siltation is the third leading cause of water quality impairment in lakes.
- (6) Siltation is the leading cause of degraded wetland integrity.
- (7) Silt robs water bodies of sunlight, killing grasses and burying the benthic community.
- (8) States are developing and implementing total maximum daily loads for pollutants that impair water quality, and exempting entire classes of pollution sources from permitting requirements for stormwater discharges will place an inequitable burden on other sources of siltation.
- (9) Exempting up to 30,000 oil and gas construction sites annually from permitting requirements for stormwater discharges will harm human health and the environment and impair the ability of States to address the single largest source of water quality impairment.
SEC. 3. REPEAL.
- Section 502(24) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(24)), relating to the definition of oil and gas exploration, is repealed.
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