98 



water quality problems and thereby identify those watersheds and aquifers with 

 impaired water resources and to establish trends in water quality. Physical, 

 chemical, and biological indicators of water quality should be monitored. 



Because financial resources will likely be limited, the nonpoint initiative should be 

 applied on a targeted watershed basis, with those watersheds having the most 

 impared or especially valuable water resources receiving treatment priority. A 

 timetable should be established for treating those watersheds with the most 

 degraded water resources and all other watersheds requiring treatment to achieve 

 the nation's water quality goals. Resources for plarming or treatment should be 

 allocated to those watersheds documented as having inconsequential pollution 

 from nonpoint sources only if an imminent danger exists to water resources. 



A period of up to five years should be allowed following completion of plans for 

 farmers and other land owners and managers to respond incrementally and in a 

 voluntary fashion to the new nonpoint-source pollution control mandate. Cost- 

 sharing or other financial incentives and educational programs should generally be 

 made available to those who must implement water quality plans through federal 

 and/or state programs, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 

 Section 319 program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's water quality 

 programs. 



The law should provide for effective enforcement measures to be triggered if the 

 period for voluntary action passes and progress has been insufficient toward 

 achieving water quality goals. 



Comprehensive natural resource management plans should be required for all 

 farms and other land units identified as contributing to pollution problems within 

 those watersheds with impaired or especially valuable water resources. Plans 

 should be prepared first for those farms and other land units contributing the 

 most to pollution problems, and all plans should be integrated with all other 

 natural resource management plans required of fanners and other land owners 

 and managers. The plans should be filed with, or certified by, an agency of 

 USDA or its representative at the state or local level (state agency, conservation 

 district, etc.). That single filing or certification process should constitute 

 compliance with all applicable federal natural resource management 

 requirements. 



Performance-based outcomes should be used in determining the success of the 

 nonpoint-source pollution control effort. 



Any wetland protection measure included in the reauthorized Clean Water Act 

 should provide for a more workable and effective policy than has been the case in 

 the past. The law should clarify agency administrative responsibilities among 

 Interior, EPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and USDA; it should place 

 authority for making all wetland determinations within USDA's Soil Conservation 

 Service, as the President has announced; it should establish an appeals process for 

 farmers and other land owners and managers who feel aggrieved by a wetland 



