The Clean Water Action Plan contains 111 key actions designed to reinvigorate efforts to restore and protect the nation's waters. To view a chart documenting the status of all 111 key actions, please click here. The following key actions have been completed or have accomplished important milestones:

Focusing on Watersheds
Smart Growth (#83)
Unified Watershed Assessments (#94)
Upgraded Index of Watershed Indicators (#97)
Watershed Assistance Grants (#103, 109)
Adopt Your Watershed (#104)
National Watershed Awards (#105)
Inventory of Watershed Training Programs (#106)
Watershed Reinvention Opportunities (#110)


Improving Information and Citizens' Right to Know
BEACH Watch (#12)
Educating about Year of the Ocean (#58)
Watershed Information Network (#92, 93, 104)


Protecting Public Health
Draft Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins Strategy and Mercury Action Plan (#2)
Contaminated Sediment Strategy (#3)
Fish Consumption Advisories (#5, 7)
Multilingual Brochures on Fish Consumption (#6)
National Commercial Shellfish Resources Classification (#9)
Beach Action Plan (#11)
Multi-Agency Source Water Agreement (#15)
Emergency Response System for Pfiesteria and Major Algal Blooms (#51)


Addressing Polluted Runoff
Animal Feeding Operations Strategy (#82)
State Coastal Polluted Runoff Control Programs (#56)
Almanac of Enforceable State Laws to Control Nonpoint Source Water Pollution (#72)
Enforceable State Authorities for Nonpoint Sources (#72)
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Guidance (#65, 66)
Conservation Buffers (#62, 64)
Nutrient Assessment Strategy (#74)
New Curbs on Storm Water Runoff (#79)


Enhancing Natural Resource Stewardship
Unified Federal Policy (#19)
National Forest System Roadless Areas (#21)
Five Star Restoration Grants (#41)
Stream Corridor Restoration Handbook (#61)
Stream Corridor Restoration Demonstration Projects (#61)
Identification of Essential Fish Habitat (#54)
Coastal Research and Monitoring Strategy (#59, 60)
Risk Management (#68)

	Smart Growth The Interagency Work Group on Sustainable Communities has completed its work to examine the challenges our communities face and some of the innovative ways they are meeting those challenges. A final report identifies current tools and resources provided by the federal government.
	Unified Watershed Assessments States and tribes have worked together with the public to identify those watersheds that do not meet water quality and other natural resource goals. These Unified Watershed Assessments represent the first coordinated statement of water quality priorities in the history of our clean water programs.
	Upgraded Index of Watershed Indicators In an effort to support the States as they prepare their Unified Watershed Assessments, EPA issued an improved version of the popular Index of Watershed Indicators (IWI).
	Watershed Assistance Grants River Network announced the first round of mini-grant recipients under the Watershed Assistance Grant program, supported by EPA. The grants will enable organizations to support local watershed coordinators, build watershed partnerships and advance watershed restoration efforts. The grants will support short-term organizational development projects; amounts range from $1,320 to $30,000.
	Adopt Your Watershed The Adopt Your Watershed campaign challenges thousands of citizens and organizations to join federal agencies and others who are working to protect valuable rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, ground water, and estuaries. To encourage stewardship of the nation's water resources, EPA is building a voluntary, national catalogue of organizations involved in protecting local water bodies, including formal watershed alliances, local groups, and schools that conduct activities such as volunteer monitoring, cleanups, and restoration projects.
	National Watershed Awards The Action Plan calls for federal agencies to help expand watershed awards. In that spirit, CF Industries honored three communities and one corporation in their annual National Watershed Awards in 1999. Recipients were recognized for innovative local partnerships that seek to imporve water quality by balancing a watershed's environmental and economic needs.
	Inventory of Watershed Training Programs The Inventory of Watershed Training Courses is developed to help readers find training/educational opportunites on watershed protection. This document provides one-page summaries of 180 watershed-related training courses offered by federal and state agencies, as well as resource professionals in the private sector.
	Watershed Reinvention Opportunities Reinvention is an appropriate heading for actions that Federal agencies take to orient Federal programs and regulatory processes on a watershed basis and make these programs more collaborative and innovative. This report is from the Clean Water Action Plan Workgroup for Reinvention Opportunities, a subset of the Watershed Framework team.
	BEACH Watch EPA is initiating a new Beach Watch Program to help States, tribes and local governments more effectively monitor and address public health risks posed by contaminated beach water. Government agencies at all levels will work together to strengthen beach water quality standards and testing methods. EPA will improve laboratory test methods for detecting contaminants in beach water, invest additional resources in testing methods research, and help state, tribes and local governments develop routine water quality monitoring programs. For the first time, this new Internet site makes available information about beach water quality and potential health risks.
	Educating about Year of the Ocean In recognition of the importance of the marine environment, the United Nations declared 1998 the International Year of the Ocean. This designation has provided individual organizations and governments with an important opportunity to raise public awareness and understanding of the ocean and related issues.
	Watershed Information Network The Watershed Information Network (WIN) is an Internet-based tool can be used to find and exchange environmental information needed in activities to sustain and restore water quality. WIN provides data on water quality and specific watersheds as well as information on how to network with others, what resources are available, how to start a watershed group, the condition of watersheds, and who is at work in watersheds.
	Draft Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins Strategy and Mercury Action Plan The goal of this strategy is to further reduce the risks to human health and the environment from existing and future exposure to priority persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) pollutants. EPA developed this strategy to overcome the remaining challenges in addressing PBT pollutants.
	Contaminated Sediment Strategy To address the ecological and human health risks that contaminated sediment poses in many U.S. watersheds, EPA released a Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy. In the Strategy, EPA summarizes its understanding of the extent and severity of sediment contamination, including uncertainties about the dimension of the problem and describes a cross-program policy framework to reduce ecological and human health risks posed by sediment contamination. EPA estimates that 10 percent of the nation's lakes, rivers, and bays have sediment contaminated with toxic chemicals that can kill fish living in those waters or impair the health of people and wildlife who eat contaminated fish
	Fish Consumption Advisories EPA sent letters concerning fish consumption advisories to the heads of all State Environmental Agencies, State Public Health Agencies, and Natural Resource Management Agencies, and to the leaders of all tribes that operate the national water program. The letters are the next step in implementing the Action Plan's goal to have nationally consistent processes for monitoring fish tissue and communicating fish consumption advisories. The letters emphasize the importance of a risk-based fish consumption advisory program for protecting public health, especially the health of women of child-bearing age, children, and people who for economic or cultural reasons eat large amounts of locally-caught fish. The letters ask the states and tribes to review their existing fish advisory program and compare it to the EPA's National Guidance on Fish Consumption Advisories.
	Multilingual Brochures on Fish Consumption The brochure "Should I eat the fish I catch? A Guide to Healthy Eating of the Fish I Catch," was developed by EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, United States Public Health Service. The brochures are available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
	National Commercial Shellfish Resources Classification A report and CD-ROM on the status of national shellfish bed conditions and the factors leading to harvest limitations was released in 1999. The national shellfish registry assessed more that 4,000 shellfish growing areas around the country and identified measures needed to reopen closed or restricted shellfish beds.
	Beach Action Plan The Beach Action Plan is a multi-year strategy released in March, 1999, for reducing the risks of infection to recreational water users through improved water quality programs, risk communication, and scientific advances. It recognizes that authorities need the flexibility to respond to local and regional variations in factors such as pollution sources and climate that affect recreational waters. The Beach Action Plan describes activities to accomplish two primary objectives: to enable consistent management of recreational water quality programs, and to improve the science that supports recreational water monitoring programs.
	Multi-Agency Source Water Agreement Ten federal agencies signed an agreement directing program authorities, technical assistance, data, and enforcement resources to help states, tribes, and local communities design and implement their drinking water source water assessment and protection programs within the unified watershed protection and restoration efforts. This agreement draws on program authorities under relevant laws to assign priority to drinking water source water areas needing protection.
	Emergency Response System for Pfiesteria and Major Algal Blooms In response to fish lesions, kills, Pfiesteria-like organisms, and possible threats to public health, federal agencies have developed and coordinated a long-term, national strategy for federally-supported research and monitoring on problems associated with harmful algal blooms, particularly Pfiesteria and Pfiesteria-like species.
	Animal Feeding Operations Strategy On March 9, 1999, USDA and EPA released a joint Unified National Animal Feeding Operations Strategy to minimize the environmental and public health impacts of Animal Feeding Operations.
	State Coastal Polluted Runoff Control Programs Under the Coastal Zone Management Act, coastal states and territories are called upon to develop programs to preserve and protect their coastal resources. The Act specifically asks states and territories to develop programs to reduce the impacts of polluted runoff. All 29 participating state and territorial programs have been conditionally approved.
	Almanac of Enforceable State Laws to Control Nonpoint Source Water Pollution This document is a state-by-state report identifying enforceable provisions that can apply to nonpoint source discharges in each state.
	Enforceable State Authorities for Nonpoint Sources In an effort to provide information on enforceable state authorities for ensuring the implementation of nonpoint source measures to achieve water quality standards, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) received federal funding to produce a new report entitled, "Putting the Pieces Together: State Nonpoint Source Enforceable Mechanisms in Context" (June 2000). The report can be accessed directly at the ELI website, where it can be viewed, purchased, or downloaded - - as a 486k pdf file.
	Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Guidance Issued The Farm Services Agency released final guidelines on the CREP Program. So far, eight states have signed up for the program. The USDA is the lead on this key action.
	Conservation Buffers The Action Plan calls for establishment of two million miles of conservation buffers on agricultural lands to improve water quality, enhance wildlife habitat, and restore biodiversity. Over 720,000 miles of buffers along rivers, streams, and field borders have been established since 1998.
	Nutrient Assessment Strategy EPA released a national strategy in June 1998 for the development of water quality criteria and standards for nutrients. The Clean Water Action Plan calls for EPA to publish criteria (i.e. scientific information concerning harmful levels of a pollutant) for nutrients. These criteria will be used by States to develop numeric nutrient provisions of State water quality standards. The new strategy describes the process for developing criteria that are appropriate for various types of waterbodies and different regions of the country.
	New Curbs on Storm Water Runoff A new rule was published to protect America's drinking water and waterways by curbing storm water runoff. The new storm water regulation will reduce storm water runoff from construction sites between one and five acres and municipal storm sewer systems in urbanized areas serving populations of less than 100,000.
	Unified Federal Policy The proposed Unified Federal Policy for Ensuring a Watershed Approach to Federal Land and Resource Management ("Unified Federal Policy") has two primary goals: to use a watershed approach to prevent and reduce water pollution resulting from federal land and resource management activities and to accomplish this in a unified and cost effective manner.
	National Forest System Roadless Areas A rule was published in February 1999 that provides a temporary moratorium on new road construction in large roadless areas. In October, 1999, President Clinton launched an effort to preserve 40 million pristine acres of roadless areas within America's national forests.
	Five Star Restoration Grants With the goal of a net increase of 100,000 acres of wetlands per year by 2005; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working with its River Corridors and Wetlands Restoration Partners on community-based wetlands restoration projects in 500 watersheds in the next 5 years. The Five Star Restoration Program is specifically designed to meet that challenge. Primarily it provides challenge grants, facilitates technology/information transfer and partner collaboration, and supports peer-to-peer communication programs in an effort to promote community-based wetland and riparian restoration projects.
	Stream Corridor Restoration Handbook This document is a result of an unprecedented cooperative effort among fifteen federal agencies and partners to produce a common reference on stream corridor restoration. It responds to a growing national and international public interest in restoring stream corridors. This document encapsulat es the rapidly expanding body of knowledge related to stream corridors and their restoration. It includes the full range of possibilities facing restoration practitioners, including no action or passive approaches, partial intervention for assisted recovery, and substantial intervention for managed recovery.
	Stream Corridor Restoration Demonstration Projects Twelve demonstration project sites were designated in 1999 to showcase modern stream corridor restoration technologies. The sites represent a variety of geographic location and conditions, with projects designed to improve multi-stakeholder partnerships, local communities, and the environment.
	Identification of Essential Fish Habitat Essential fish habitat was designated for 39 of 40 federal fisheries in the United States. Federal fishery management plans must now include measure that minimize to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing on these habitats.
	Coastal Research and Monitoring Strategy The Strategy presents a basic assessment of the Nation’s coastal research and monitoring needs, and recommends an integrated framework to address the needs of the Nation and the coastal States and Tribes in order to protect vital coastal resources. This work is part of a renewed effort by the Federal agencies, in partnership with States and Tribes to restore and protect the Nation’s estuarine and coastal areas.
	Risk Management Five risk management insurance products have been developed and are available from private industries. These include products for producers who use best management practices such as integrated pest management, nutrient management, and conservation tillage. Six more integrated pest management products under development are expected to be available in 2000.