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NASDA POSITION ON Reauthorization of the Clean Water Act 



Reauthorization of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) 

 is an opportunity to review the quality of our nation's water resources, assess our efforts to clean-up 

 impaired waters and prevent potential pollution, and set a course to protect this vital resource. Let me 

 concentrate on the area of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution and agriculture's efforts to prevent such 

 pollution. NASDA recognizes the need to address agricultural nonpoint source pollution which may have 

 adverse effects on the environment and human health. Agricultural operations, along with urban, 

 construction, septic and natural sources, require a comprehensive and coordinated management strategy, 

 much of which is already in place, but in many cases inadequately funded. 



In order to reduce complex and diverse NPS pollution, a commitment of time and resources is necessary, 

 similar to the 20-year commitment our country has made to eliminating point source pollution. However, 

 management of this problem will require a different approach than that of point source pollution because, 

 unlike point source pollution, NPS pollution is primarily a weather-related phenomenon that can be 

 managed, but not feasibly eliminated. NPS pollution is caused by the inadvertent discharge of pollutants 

 from a wide variety of society's most essential activities. 



The Clean Water Act (CWA) is not alone in protecting America's waters from NPS pollution. Other 

 ongoing programs at the federal, state and local levels must be funded fully, and coordinated with, not 

 superseded by, the CWA. In particular, this includes the soil conservation and water quality provisions 

 of the 1985 and 1990 farm bills and the state groundwater and surface water protection programs of the 

 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The CWA reauthorization should not 

 directly or indirectly create a federal water quality law or program which supersedes, abrogates or impairs 

 state water allocation systems and water rights. 



Prinoples of the Clean Water Act 



The reauthorized CWA's central focus for NPS management solutions should be reasonable, voluntary, 

 and based on incentives, education and technical assistance. NPS pollution management programs should 

 emphasize the protection of water resources and state-designated water uses, including state-designated 

 agricultural uses, recognizing the importance and needs of individual agricultural producers and other 

 landowners affected by the CWA. This approach emphasizes the use of locally designed and applied, 

 economically feasible, site-specific best management practices which do not infringe on private property 

 rights. 



The CWA contains valuable provisions for NPS management embodied in section 319. Although section 

 319 has been historically underfunded and has been hampered by bureaucratic roadblocks, all states now 

 have approved section 319 assessments and management programs. Amendments to the CWA should 

 continue to focus on the 3 19 program as the means for states to identify nonpoint sources in critical areas, 

 and to develop management programs to control discharge. Reauthorization of the CWA should provide 

 increased funding and technical support for state management programs and local implementation. 

 Management efforts funded by section 319 should be directed to priority areas based on scientific 

 assessments that identify water bodies with impaired or threatened uses. Priority, as determined by states, 

 should be based on the magnitude of risk to human health, the protection of designated uses, and 

 likelihood of further significant and unreasonable water quality degradation if no action is taken. 



The proper management of NPS pollution lies in state and local efforts. As such, states should continue 

 to identify and resolve their priority NPS water problems through administration of section 319 funds. 

 With state oversight and approval, local entities should continue to carry out these NPS programs. State 

 and local programs should provide for a mix of research, development, education and technical and 



