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of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, id., at 1150, and for surveys of the advisability of harbor improvements at numerous other locations, id., at 1155-1161. Tellingly, § 13, which broadly prohibits the discharge of refuse into navigable waters, contains an exception for refuse "flowing from streets and sewers . . . in a liquid state." Id., at 1152.
The 1972 Act, in contrast, appropriated large sums of money for research and related programs for water pollution control, 86 Stat. 816-833, and for the construction of water treatment works, id., at 833-844. Strikingly absent from its declaration of "goals and policy" is any reference to avoiding or removing obstructions to navigation. Instead, the principal objective of the Act, as stated by Congress in § 101, was "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." 33 U. S. C. § 1251. Congress therefore directed federal agencies in § 102 to "develop comprehensive programs for preventing, reducing, or eliminating the pollution of the navigable waters and ground waters and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters." 33 U. S. C. § 1252. The CWA commands federal agencies to give "due regard," not to the interest of unobstructed navigation, but rather to "improvements which are necessary to conserve such waters for the protection and propagation of fish and aquatic life and wildlife [and] recreational purposes." Ibid.
Because of the statute's ambitious and comprehensive goals, it was, of course, necessary to expand its jurisdictional scope. Thus, although Congress opted to carry over the traditional jurisdictional term "navigable waters" from the RHA and prior versions of the FWPCA, it broadened the definition of that term to encompass all "waters of the United States." § 1362(7).6 Indeed, the 1972 conferees arrived at the final formulation by specifically deleting the
6 The definition of "navigable water" in earlier versions of the FWPCA had made express reference to navigability. § 211, 80 Stat. 1253.
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