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Legislative initiatives to comprehensively amend the Clean Water Act have talked for some time as interested parties have debated whether and exactly how to change the law. Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected Clean Water Act programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. This report contains information on the recent developments as of its writing, background and analysis as related to the Clean Water Act legislative actions, and legislative issues of the 109th Congress.

This report discusses several dairy issues that have been or are being considered by the 109th Congress, some of which affect the three major federal dairy policy tools -- the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, federal milk marketing orders, and the dairy price support program.

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Congress generally authorizes Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) water resources projects before considering them in the annual appropriations process. The 109th Congress is considering authorizing Corps projects through two Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bills — S. 728 and H.R. 2864. The House passed H.R. 2864 in July 2005; S. 728 was placed on the Senate calendar in April 2005. Previous WRDAs followed a loosely biennial schedule; however, the last WRDA was enacted in 2000.

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This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 109th Congress. Action in the second session has focused on appropriations bills; the first session focused on omnibus energy policy bill H.R. 6 and several appropriations bills. this report describes several major pieces of legislation, including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Transportation Equity Act. For each bill listed in this report, a brief description and a summary of action are given, including references to committee hearings and reports. Also, a selected list of hearings on renewable energy is included.

This report gives an overview of the major regulatory relief provisions in H.R. 3505 and S. 2856, focusing on their potential impact on bank concentration. The report examines both bills’ provisions to assess whether they are likely to support or discourage bank consolidation. The consolidation of the banking industry arguably reduces competition, which could tend to raise the price of banking services. On the other hand, there is empirical evidence that shows economies of scale in banking, including economies in complying with banking regulations, suggesting larger banks might be able to provide banking services at lower cost than smaller banks.

Report on immigration with a focus on border security and related legislation, considered by the 109th Congress.