2009, Senator Feingold introduced (and gathered 24 co-sponsors already) legislation, S. 787, to fundamentally change the definition of “water” under control of the federal government
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended–
(1) by striking paragraph (7);
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (25) as paragraphs (7) through (24), respectively; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
`(25) WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES- The term `waters of the United States’ means all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.’.
SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended–
(1) by striking `navigable waters of the United States’ each place it appears and inserting `waters of the United States’;
(2) in section 304(l)(1) by striking `NAVIGABLE WATERS’ in the heading and inserting `WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES’; and
(3) by striking `navigable waters’ each place it appears and inserting `waters of the United States’.
Posts
