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strategy, but provides a mechanism through which the strategy 

 will be implemented on the ground by the individuals and 

 organizations in the best position to restore the nation's 

 streams ~ those who live on or by the river and who care most 

 about it. 



The bill also provides the funding mechanism for the 

 implementation strategy whereby the Task Force makes 

 recommendations to the President as to sources of funding for 

 local restoration efforts, which are subsequently enacted if 

 Congress does not disapprove the recommendations. Appropriately, 

 recommended funding sources will consist primarily of fees 

 imposed on those who degraded those water resources the bill 

 intends on restoring. Focus group surveys we have conducted in 

 the Northeast have indicated that the general public is very 

 surprised that water users for the most part use our nation's 

 public water resources for free. The public seems very 

 comfortable with the notion that hydroelectric producers pay for 

 the use of water, even if it means a small increase in individual 

 utility bills. 



H.R. 4481 also recognizes that the complex rules and 

 regulations that make up our nation's disjointed water management 

 policy provide both barriers and opportunities to widescale 

 restoration efforts. Section 3(c) of the bill requires that a 



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