Declaration of policy.

(1) The general assembly finds and declares that because the federal Water Pollution Control Act provides for a permit system to regulate the discharge of pollutants into the waters of the United States and provides that permits may be issued by states which are authorized to implement that Act, it is in the interest of the people of Iowa to enact this part 1 of subchapter III in order to authorize the state to implement the federal Water Pollution Control Act, and federal regulations and guidelines issued pursuant to that Act.

(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that because the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. §300f et seq., as amended by Pub. L. No. 104-182, provides for the implementation of the Act by states which have adequate authority to do so, it is in the interest of the people of Iowa to implement the provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and federal regulations and guidelines issued pursuant to the Act.

(3) The general assembly further finds and declares that it is in the interest of the people of Iowa to assess and reduce nutrients in surface waters over time by implementing the Iowa nutrient reduction strategy. To evaluate the progress achieved over time toward the goals of the Iowa nutrient reduction strategy and the United States environmental protection agency gulf hypoxia action plan, the baseline condition shall be calculated for the time period from 1980 to 1996.

[C77, 79, 81, §455B.36; 82 Acts, ch 1050, §4]C83, §455B.17796 Acts, ch 1079, §15; 97 Acts, ch 4, §5; 2018 Acts, ch 1001, §20; 2021 Acts, ch 76, §92