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1 (June 19, 2008)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaabg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22878 Updated June 19, 2008 ~CRS Report for Congress Clean Water Act: Legislation Concerning Discharges from Recreational Boats Claudia Copeland Specialist in Resource and Environmental Policy Resources, Science, and Industry Division Summary The Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to develop a regulatory response to a 2006 federal court ruling that vacated a long-standing rule that exempts discharges associated with the normal operation of vessels from permit requirements of the Clean Water Act. Concern that this ruling could require millions of recreational boaters to obtain permits has led to the introduction of legislation to exempt such vessels from water quality regulation. This report discusses background to the issue, six bills (S. 2067/H.R. 2550, S. 2766/H.R. 5949, and S. 2645/H.R. 5594), and draft permits proposed by EPA on June 17. In the 1 10th Congress, legislation concerning the applicability of certain environmental regulatory requirements to recreational boats has been introduced. Two bills are titled the Clean Boating Act of 2008 (S. 2766, Senator Bill Nelson and Senator Boxer; and H.R. 5949, Representative LaTourette). These identical bills have been ordered reported by Senate and House committees. Legislation titled the Recreational Boating Act of 2007 also has been introduced (S. 2067, Senator Martinez; and H.R. 2550, Representative Taylor). Two other bills are the Vessel Discharge Evaluation and Review Act (S. 2645, Senator Stevens, and H.R. 5594, Representative Young2). These bills are intended to address an issue that has arisen in implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). In 2006, a federal court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise a CWA regulation that currently exempts discharges from the normal operation of all vessels from the act's permit requirements.3 The bills seek to 1 S. 2067 includes several stylistic and formatting differences from H.R. 2550, but the bills are similar enough that they are considered together in this report. 2 These bills are not identical, but are substantially similar and are discussed together in this report. ' Northwest Environmental Advocates v. EPA, No. C 03-05760 SI (N.D.Cal. September 18, 2006). Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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