This volume presents historical information and analyses describing the legislative status of nonpoint source water pollution discharges from unimproved lands, particularly military lands. Increasing emphasis at national and state levels on controlling pollutant discharges from nonpoint sources and on watershed management suggests that federal lands may become subject to compliance legislation in the relatively near future. The Army Environmental Policy Institute has tracked developments on this topic for six years. The pair of studies combined in this report provides reference materials and observations through September 1999 to help military land and water managers understand the issues in preparation for possible new compliance requirements. This gap in Clean Water Act coverage could be closed at any time. When, as with this case specific language has been embedded in proposed congressional legislation for several years, the concept usually gets passed into law. Alternatively in this case, any legislative loosening of federal sovereign immunity could indirectly give states power to impose standards and procedures on federal agencies for nonpoint source runoff. The question is more when than whether.
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