United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-02-26 monographic deposited born digital 113 p. GA 1.13:RCED-99-45 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45 P0b002ee18037dc87 f:rc99045 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45 RCED-99-45 Water quality Cost analysis Water conservation Water treatment Interagency relations Water pollution control Environmental monitoring Land management USDA Conservation Reserve Program USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program OSMRE Abandoned Mine Land Program Clean Water State Revolving Fund EPA Nonpoint Source Pollution Program EPA Chesapeake Bay Program USDA Colorado River Salinity Control Program USDA Great Plains Conservation Program Army Integrated Training Area Management Program USDA Wetlands Reserve Program USDA Forestry Incentives Program USDA National Resources Inventory NOAA Coastal Zone Management Program Chapter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the impacts of nonpoint source water pollution and the potential costs of dealing with the problem, focusing on: (1) funding levels for federal programs that primarily address nonpoint source pollution; (2) the way Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assesses the overall potential costs of reducing nonpoint pollution nationwide and alternative methods for doing so; and (3) nonpoint source pollution from federal facilities, lands, and activities that federal agencies manage or authorize, or for which they issue permits or licenses.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the federal agencies GAO contacted reported spending about $3 billion annually for fiscal years 1994 through 1998 on 35 programs that they identified as addressing nonpoint source pollution; (2) some deal directly with nonpoint source pollution; others focus on different objectives but still address the problem; (3) while EPA is the primary agency involved in water quality issues given its role under the Clean Water Act, many other federal agencies have programs addressing nonpoint source pollution and, in some cases, devote a significant amount of resources to the problem; (4) in particular, the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) programs account for over $11 billion of all federal funding identified by these agencies; (5) USDA officials explain that while most of the programs identified by the agency do not have specific nonpoint source pollution objectives, the programs' activities nonetheless help to reduce nonpoint source pollution; (6) EPA has estimated the annual costs of controlling three major sources of nonpoint source pollution to be $9.4 billion, an amount that represents one of the few systematic attempts at estimating such costs nationwide; (7) specifically, EPA's methodology to produce the estimate analyzes agriculture, silviculture, and animal feeding operations and estimates pollution-control costs for these sources; (8) EPA acknowledges that the methodology has several limitations; (9) GAO also found that the methodology does not assess and disclose the considerable range of uncertainty associated with EPA's control cost estimate and that it includes insufficient documentation of its cost-estimation methodology; (10) EPA officials told GAO that the agency is considering an additional cost-estimation methodology, a watershed based approach, that could provide a substantially more realistic estimate by taking into account the unique characteristics of individual watersheds; (11) the federal government manages or authorizes a variety of activities that result in nonpoint source pollution and, in some cases, affect water quality; and (12) the following five activities have been identified as those with the most potential to contribute significantly to nonpoint source pollution: (a) silviculture; (b) grazing; (c) drainage from abandoned mines; (d) recreation; and (e) hydromodification. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45.pdf GAO/RCED-99-45 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-45 Chapter Report GAO/RCED-99-45; Water Quality: Federal Role in Addressing and Contributing to Nonpoint Source Pollution; Water quality Cost analysis Water conservation Water treatment Interagency relations Water pollution control Environmental monitoring Land management USDA Conservation Reserve Program USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program OSMRE Abandoned Mine Land Program Clean Water State Revolving Fund EPA Nonpoint Source Pollution Program EPA Chesapeake Bay Program USDA Colorado River Salinity Control Program USDA Great Plains Conservation Program Army Integrated Training Area Management Program USDA Wetlands Reserve Program USDA Forestry Incentives Program USDA National Resources Inventory NOAA Coastal Zone Management Program Title 16 Section 1451-1465 16 U.S.C. 1451-1465 Volume 86 Page 1280 86 Stat. 1280 Volume 91 Page 445 91 Stat. 445 Volume 99 Page 1354 99 Stat. 1354 Volume 100 Page 1243 100 Stat. 1243 Volume 104 Page 1388-289 104 Stat. 1388-289 Public Law 92-583 Public Law 95-87 Public Law 99-198 Public Law 99-495 Public Law 101-508 Public Law 104-127