Frank Riggs: “I hope and believe that my amendment should not be controversial. It reaffirms what the EPA should already know. Clean…”

“I hope and believe that my amendment should not be controversial. It reaffirms what the EPA should already know. Clean water is not itself a pollutant, and should not be regulated as such. Specifically, my amendment clarifies the anti-backsliding exception in the Clean Water Act under section 402(o). The act now allows a discharge permit to be "renewed, reissued or modified to contain a less stringent effluent limitation applicable to a pollutant" in certain circumstances. The amendment would make clear that as long as other clean water precautions are followed, a discharge permit could be renewed, reissued or modified to contain a less stringent effluent limitation applicable to the concentration or loading of a pollutant. The effect of the language is that increased volumes of treated wastewater could be discharged into a river or other body of water as long as water quality is not degraded. The amendment is consistent with the spirit of H.R. 961 in that it gives flexibility while preserving requirements that water quality standards be met.”