106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 999

AN ACT

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

ters, and for other purposes.to improve the quality of coastal recreation wa-
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 999

AN ACT

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to improve the quality of coastal recreation waters, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Beaches Environ3 mental Awareness, Cleanup, and Health Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. ADOPTION OF COASTAL RECREATION WATER QUAL5 ITY CRITERIA AND STANDARDS BY STATES.

6 Section 303 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

7 Act (33 U.S.C. 1313) is amended by adding at the end

8 the following:

9 ‘‘(i) COASTAL RECREATION WATER QUALITY CRI10 TERIA AND STANDARDS.—

11 ‘‘(1) ADOPTION BY STATES.—

12 ‘‘(A) INITIAL CRITERIA AND STANDARDS.—Not later than 31 13 ⁄2 years after the date

14 of the enactment of this subsection, each State

15 having coastal recreation waters shall adopt and

16 submit to the Administrator water quality cri17 teria and standards for such waters for those

18 pathogens and pathogen indicators for which

19 the Administrator has published criteria under

20 section 304(a).

21 ‘‘(B) NEW OR REVISED STANDARDS.—Not

22 later than 3 years after the date of publication

23 by the Administrator of new or revised water

24 quality criteria under section 304(a)(9), each

25 State having coastal recreation waters shall

26 adopt and submit to the Administrator new or
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1 revised water quality standards for such waters

2 for all pathogens and pathogen indicators for

3 which the Administrator publishes new or re4 vised water quality criteria.

5 ‘‘(2) FAILURE OF STATES TO ADOPT.—If a

6 State has not adopted water quality criteria referred

7 to in paragraph (1)(A) that are as protective of

8 human health as the criteria for pathogens and

9 pathogen indicators for coastal recreation waters

10 that the Administrator has published under section

11 304(a)(9), the Administrator shall promptly prepare

12 and publish proposed regulations for the State set13 ting forth revised or new water quality standards for

14 coastal recreation waters for the pathogens and

15 pathogen indicators subject to paragraph (1)(A). If

16 the Administrator prepares and publishes such regu17 lations under subsection (c)(4)(B) before the date

18 specified in paragraph (1)(A), the Administrator

19 shall promulgate any revised or new standard under

20 this paragraph not later than the date specified in

21 paragraph (1)(A).

22 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Except as expressly

23 provided by this subsection, the requirements and

24 procedures of subsection (c) apply to this sub25 section.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. REVISIONS TO WATER QUALITY CRITERIA.

2 (a) STUDIES.—Section 104 of the Federal Water Pol3 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254) is amended by adding

4 at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(v) STUDIES CONCERNING PATHOGEN INDICATORS

6 IN COASTAL RECREATION WATERS.—Not later than 3

7 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection,

8 and after consultation and collaboration with appropriate

9 Federal, State, and local officials (including local health

10 officials) and other interested persons, the Administrator

11 shall conduct, in cooperation with the heads of other Fed12 eral agencies, studies to provide additional information for

13 use in developing—

14 ‘‘(1) a more complete determination of potential

15 human health risks resulting from exposure to

16 pathogens in coastal recreation waters, including ef17 fects to the upper respiratory system;

18 ‘‘(2) appropriate and effective indicators for im19 proving detection in a timely manner in coastal

20 recreation waters of the presence of pathogens that

21 are harmful to human health;

22 ‘‘(3) appropriate, accurate, expeditious, and

23 cost-effective methods (including predictive models)

24 for detecting in a timely manner in coastal recre25 ation waters the presence of pathogens that are

26 harmful to human health; and
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1 ‘‘(4) guidance for State application of the cri2 teria for pathogens and pathogen indicators to be

3 issued under section 304(a)(9) to account for the di4 versity of geographic and aquatic conditions.’’.

5 (b) REVISED CRITERIA.—Section 304(a) of such Act

6 (33 U.S.C. 1314(a)) is amended by adding at the end the

7 following:

8 ‘‘(9) REVISED CRITERIA FOR COASTAL RECRE9 ATION WATERS.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years

11 after the date of the enactment of this para12 graph, and after consultation and collaboration

13 with appropriate Federal, State, and local offi14 cials (including local health officials), the Ad15 ministrator shall issue new or revised water

16 quality criteria for pathogens and pathogen in17 dicators (including a revised list of testing

18 methods, as appropriate) based on the results

19 of the studies conducted under section 104(v)

20 for the purpose of protecting human health in

21 coastal recreation waters.

22 ‘‘(B) REVIEWS.—At least once every 5

23 years after the date of issuance of water quality

24 criteria under this paragraph, the Adminis-
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1 trator shall review and, as necessary, revise the

2 water quality criteria.’’.

3 SEC. 4. COASTAL RECREATION WATER QUALITY MONI4 TORING AND NOTIFICATION.

5 Title IV of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

6 (33 U.S.C. 1341–1345) is amended by adding at the end

7 the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 406. COASTAL RECREATION WATER QUALITY MONI9 TORING AND NOTIFICATION.

10 ‘‘(a) MONITORING AND NOTIFICATION.—Not later

11 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this

12 section, after consultation and collaboration with appro13 priate Federal, State, tribal, and local officials (including

14 local health officials), and after providing public notice

15 and an opportunity for comment, the Administrator shall

16 publish performance criteria for—

17 ‘‘(1) monitoring (including specifying available

18 methods for monitoring) coastal recreation waters

19 adjacent to beaches (or other points of access) that

20 are open to the public for attainment of applicable

21 water quality standards for pathogens and pathogen

22 indicators and for protection of public safety from

23 floatable materials; and

24 ‘‘(2) promptly notifying the public, local govern25 ments, and the Administrator of any exceedance of
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1 applicable water quality standards for coastal recre2 ation waters described in paragraph (1) (or the im3 mediate likelihood of such an exceedance).

4 The performance criteria shall provide for the activities

5 described in paragraphs (1) and (2) to be carried out as

6 necessary for the protection of public health and safety.

7 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTA8 TION GRANTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is au10 thorized to make grants to States, Indian tribes, and

11 local governments for the purpose of developing and

12 implementing programs for monitoring and notifica13 tion, as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3).

14 ‘‘(2) STATE AND TRIBAL PROGRAMS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is

16 authorized to make grants to a State or Indian

17 tribe for developing and implementing a pro18 gram for monitoring and notification to protect

19 public health and safety that meets the per20 formance criteria established under subsection

21 (a) for coastal recreation waters adjacent to

22 beaches (or other points of access) that are

23 open to the public and are subject to the juris24 diction of the State or Indian tribe.
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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator

2 is authorized to make grants for implementa3 tion of a program of a State or Indian tribe

4 under subparagraph (A) only if the Adminis5 trator determines that—

6 ‘‘(i) the program has been developed

7 through a process that provides for public

8 notice and an opportunity for comment;

9 ‘‘(ii) the program meets the perform10 ance criteria under subsection (a), based

11 on a review of the program, including in12 formation provided by the State or Indian

13 tribe under clause (iii); and

14 ‘‘(iii) the program—

15 ‘‘(I) identifies coastal recreation

16 waters within the jurisdiction of the

17 State or Indian tribe;

18 ‘‘(II) identifies those coastal

19 recreation waters adjacent to beaches

20 (or other points of access) that are

21 open to the public and subject to the

22 jurisdiction of the State or Indian

23 tribe and that are covered by the pro24 gram;
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1 ‘‘(III) identifies those coastal

2 recreation waters covered by the pro3 gram that would be given a priority

4 for monitoring and notification if fis5 cal constraints prevent compliance at

6 all coastal recreation waters covered

7 by the program with the performance

8 criteria established under subsection

9 (a);

10 ‘‘(IV) identifies the process for

11 making any delegation of responsi12 bility for implementing the program

13 to local governments, the local govern14 ments, if any, to which the State has

15 delegated or intends to delegate such

16 responsibility, and the coastal recre17 ation waters covered by the program

18 that are or would be the subject of

19 such delegation;

20 ‘‘(V) specifies the frequency of

21 monitoring based on the periods of

22 recreational use of such waters and

23 the nature and extent of use during

24 such periods;
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1 ‘‘(VI) specifies the frequency and

2 location of monitoring based on the

3 proximity of such waters to known

4 point and nonpoint sources of pollu5 tion and in relation to storm events;

6 ‘‘(VII) specifies which methods

7 will be used for detecting levels of

8 pathogens and pathogen indicators

9 that are harmful to human health and

10 for identifying short-term increases in

11 pathogens and pathogen indicators

12 that are harmful to human health in

13 coastal recreation waters, including in

14 relation to storm events;

15 ‘‘(VIII) specifies measures for

16 prompt communication of the occur17 rence, nature, location, pollutants in18 volved, and extent of such an exceed19 ance (or the immediate likelihood of

20 such an exceedance) to the Adminis21 trator and a designated official of a

22 local government having jurisdiction

23 over land adjoining the coastal recre24 ation waters covered by the State or
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1 tribal program for which an exceed2 ance is identified; and

3 ‘‘(IX) specifies measures for

4 posting of signs at the beach (or other

5 point of access), or functionally equiv6 alent communication measures, suffi7 cient to give notice to the public of an

8 exceedance (or the immediate likeli9 hood of an exceedance) of applicable

10 water quality criteria for pathogens

11 and pathogen indicators for such wa12 ters and the potential risks associated

13 with water contact activities in such

14 waters.

15 ‘‘(3) LOCAL PROGRAMS.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is

17 authorized to make a grant to a local govern18 ment for developing and implementing a pro19 gram for monitoring and notification to protect

20 public health and safety that meets the per21 formance criteria established under subsection

22 (a) for coastal recreation waters adjacent to

23 beaches (or other points of access) that are

24 open to the public and subject to the jurisdic25 tion of the local government.
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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator

2 is authorized to make grants for implementa3 tion of a local government program under sub4 paragraph (A) only if the Administrator deter5 mines that—

6 ‘‘(i) the State in which the local gov7 ernment is located did not submit a grant

8 application meeting the requirements of

9 paragraph (2)(B) within one year following

10 the date of publication of performance cri11 teria under subsection (a);

12 ‘‘(ii) the local government program

13 has been developed through a process that

14 provides for public notice and an oppor15 tunity for comment;

16 ‘‘(iii) the local government program

17 meets the performance criteria under sub18 section (a), based on a review of the local

19 government program, including informa20 tion provided by the local government

21 under paragraph (2)(B)(iii); and

22 ‘‘(iv) the local government program

23 addresses the matters identified in para24 graph (2)(B)(iii) with respect to such wa25 ters.
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1 ‘‘(4) LIST OF WATERS.—Following receipt of a

2 grant under this subsection, a State, Indian tribe, or

3 local government shall apply the prioritization estab4 lished by the State, Indian tribe, or local government

5 under paragraph (2)(B)(iii)(III) and promptly sub6 mit to the Administrator—

7 ‘‘(A) a list of discrete areas of coastal

8 recreation waters that are subject to the pro9 gram for monitoring and notification for which

10 the grant is provided where the performance

11 criteria under subsection (a) will be met; and

12 ‘‘(B) a list of discrete areas of coastal

13 recreation waters that are subject to the pro14 gram for monitoring and notification for which

15 the grant is provided where fiscal constraints

16 will prevent compliance with the performance

17 criteria under subsection (a).

18 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of

19 the cost of developing and implementing a moni20 toring and notification program under this sub21 section shall be not less than 50 percent nor more

22 than 100 percent, as determined by the Adminis23 trator. The non-Federal share of such cost may be

24 met through in-kind contributions.
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1 ‘‘(6) DELEGATION.—If a State delegates re2 sponsibility for monitoring and notification under

3 this subsection to a local government, the State shall

4 make a portion of any grant received by the State

5 under paragraph (2) available to the local govern6 ment in an amount commensurate with the respon7 sibilities delegated.

8 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL AGENCY PROGRAMS.—Each Federal

9 agency shall develop, through a process that provides for

10 public notice and an opportunity for comment, a program

11 for monitoring and notification to protect public health

12 and safety that meets the performance criteria established

13 under subsection (a) for coastal recreation waters adjacent

14 to beaches (or other points of access) that are open to

15 the public and subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal

16 agency. Each Federal agency program shall address the

17 matters identified in subsection (b)(2)(B)(iii).

18 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION DATABASE.—The Administrator

19 shall establish, maintain, and make available to the public

20 by electronic and other means a national coastal recreation

21 water pollution occurrence database that provides infor22 mation on exceedances of applicable water quality stand23 ards for pathogens and pathogen indicators for coastal

24 recreation waters using information reported to the Ad25 ministrator pursuant to a monitoring and notification pro-
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1 gram that meets the performance criteria established

2 under subsection (a). The Administrator may include in

3 the database other information only if the information is

4 on exceedances of applicable water quality standards for

5 pathogens and pathogen indicators for coastal recreation

6 waters and is made available to the Administrator from

7 other coastal water quality monitoring programs deter8 mined to be reliable by the Administrator. The database

9 may provide such information through electronic links to

10 other databases determined to be reliable by the Adminis11 trator.

12 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator

13 shall provide technical assistance to States, Indian tribes,

14 and local governments for the development of assessment

15 and monitoring procedures for floatable materials to pro16 tect public health and safety in coastal recreation waters.

17 ‘‘(f) LIST OF WATERS.—Beginning not later than 18

18 months after the date of publication of performance cri19 teria under subsection (a), the Administrator shall main20 tain a list of discrete areas of coastal recreation waters

21 adjacent to beaches (or other points of access) that are

22 open to the public and are not subject to a program for

23 monitoring and notification meeting the performance cri24 teria established under subsection (a) based on informa25 tion made available to the Administrator. The list also
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1 shall identify discrete areas of coastal recreation waters

2 adjacent to beaches (or other points of access) that are

3 open to the public and are subject to a monitoring and

4 notification program meeting the performance criteria es5 tablished under subsection (a). The Administrator shall

6 make the list available to the public through publication

7 in the Federal Register and through electronic media. The

8 Administrator shall update the list at least annually.

9 ‘‘(g) EPA IMPLEMENTATION.—With respect to a

10 State that has no program for monitoring for and notifica11 tion of exceedances of the applicable water quality stand12 ards for pathogens and pathogen indicators in coastal

13 recreation waters adjacent to beaches (or other points of

14 access) open to the public that protects public health and

15 safety, after the last day of the 3-year period beginning

16 on the date the Administrator identifies, on a list required

17 pursuant to subsection (f), discrete areas of coastal recre18 ation waters in the State that are not subject to a moni19 toring and notification program meeting the performance

20 criteria established under subsection (a), the Adminis21 trator shall conduct, subject to the conditions of sub22 section (b)(2), a monitoring and notification program for

23 such discrete areas using the funds appropriated for

24 grants under subsection (b), including salaries, expenses,

25 and travel.
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1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 is authorized to be appropriated for making grants to

3 States, Indian tribes, and local governments under sub4 section (b), including implementation of monitoring and

5 notification programs by the Administrator under sub6 section (f), $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000

7 through 2004.’’.

8 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

9 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

10 Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end

11 the following:

12 ‘‘(21) COASTAL RECREATION WATERS.—The

13 term ‘coastal recreation waters’ means the Great

14 Lakes and marine coastal waters, including coastal

15 estuaries, used by the public for swimming, bathing,

16 surfing, or other similar water contact activities.

17 ‘‘(22) FLOATABLE MATERIALS.—The term

18 ‘floatable materials’ means any foreign matter that

19 may float or remain suspended in the water column

20 and includes plastic, aluminum cans, wood products,

21 bottles, and paper products.

22 ‘‘(23) PATHOGEN INDICATORS.—The term

23 ‘pathogen indicators’ means substances that indicate

24 the potential for human infectious disease.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after the

3 date of the enactment of this Act, and within the suc4 ceeding 4-year period and periodically thereafter, the Ad5 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall

6 transmit to Congress a report including—

7 (1) recommendations concerning the need for

8 additional water quality criteria for pathogens and

9 other actions needed to improve the quality of coast10 al recreation waters;

11 (2) an evaluation of Federal, State, and local

12 efforts to implement this Act, including the amend13 ments made by this Act; and

14 (3) recommendations on improvements to meth15 odologies and techniques for monitoring of coastal

16 recreation waters.

17 (b) COORDINATION.—The Administrator may coordi18 nate the report under this section with other reporting re19 quirements under the Federal Water Pollution Control

20 Act.

21 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated for carrying

23 out the provisions of this Act (including amendments

24 made by this Act) for which amounts are not otherwise

25 specifically authorized to be appropriated such sums as
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1 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2000 through

2 2004.

Passed the House of Representatives April 22, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.