Water Pollution Program Improvement Act of 2000
Latest action. Hearings Held by Committee on Agriculture.
Water Pollution Program Improvement Act of 2000 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study on the: (1) scientific basis underlying the development and implementation of total maximum daily loads for pollutants in waters for which effluent limitations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act are not stringent enough to implement applicable water quality standards; (2) costs of implementing measures to comply with such loads; and (3) availability of alternative programs or mechanisms to reduce the discharge of pollutants from point sources and nonpoint source pollution to achieve water quality standards. Requires the NAS to report on the study to the Administrator and specified congressional committees. Provides for Federal, State, and private sector comments on such report. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator, before making a final determination with respect to the Proposed Revisions to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program and Federal Antidegradation Policy and the Proposed Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulations Concerning Total Maximum Daily Loads of August 1999, to: (1) review the NAS report and incorporate recommendations into the proposed revisions; and (2) publish in the Federal Register and receive public comment on incorporated recommendations and those that weren't incorporated, with an explanation why they were not incorporated. Bars the Administrator from making such final determination until the conclusion of the public notice and comment period. Prohibits the Administrator, for purposes of ensuring that States continue to have exclusive authority to regulate nonpoint sources of pollution, from: (1) taking any action to affect any definition of, or distinction made between, point and nonpoint sources of pollution contained in an EPA rule in effect on June 1, 2000; and (2) requiring approval of any measures set forth by a State to control nonpoint sources of pollution pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, except as authorized under specified provisions regarding nonpoint source management programs.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 19, 2000. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 28, 2000: Hearings Held by Committee on Agriculture.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 106th Congress (1999-00), 580 of the 9,158 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 6.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
LARRY COMBEST (R-TX) introduced it on May 19, 2000, and 97 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 26 Democrats, 70 Republicans, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 19, 2000, 9658 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 9618 days ago, on June 28, 2000.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 106th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2001 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers