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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1209

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to coordinate and promote

Great Lakes activities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 10, 1995

Mr. QUINN (for himself and Mr. LATOURETTE) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Science, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to coordinate and promote Great Lakes activities, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Federal

5 Effectiveness Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 118 of the Federal Water

8 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268) is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (a)(3)—

2 (A) by striking subparagraph (E) and in3 serting the following:

4 ‘‘(E) ‘Council’ means the Great Lakes Re5 search Council established by subsection

6 (d)(1);’’;

7 (B) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’

8 at the end;

9 (C) in subparagraph (J), by striking the

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

11 (D) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(K) ‘Great Lakes research’ means the ap13 plication of scientific or engineering expertise to

14 explain, understand, and predict a physical,

15 chemical, biological, or socioeconomic process,

16 or the interaction of 1 or more of the processes,

17 in the Great Lakes ecosystem.’’;

18 (2) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the

19 following:

20 ‘‘(d) GREAT LAKES RESEARCH COUNCIL.—

21 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNCIL.—There is

22 established a Great Lakes Research Council.

23 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF COUNCIL.—The Council

24 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) advise and promote the coordination

2 of Federal Great Lakes research activities to

3 avoid unnecessary duplication and ensure great4 er effectiveness in achieving protection of the

5 Great Lakes ecosystem through the goals of the

6 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement;

7 ‘‘(B) not later than 1 year after the date

8 of the enactment of this subparagraph and bi9 ennially thereafter, after providing opportunity

10 for public review and comment, prepare and

11 provide to interested parties a document that

12 includes—

13 ‘‘(i) an assessment of the Great Lakes

14 research activities needed to fulfill the

15 goals of the Great Lakes Water Quality

16 Agreement;

17 ‘‘(ii) an assessment of Federal exper18 tise and capabilities in the activities needed

19 to fulfill the goals of the Great Lakes

20 Water Quality Agreement, including an in21 ventory of Federal Great Lakes research

22 programs, projects, facilities, and person23 nel; and

24 ‘‘(iii) recommendations for long-term

25 and short-term priorities for Federal Great
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1 Lakes research, based on a comparison of

2 the assessment conducted under clause (i)

3 and the assessment conducted under clause

4 (ii);

5 ‘‘(C) identify topics for and participate in

6 meetings, workshops, symposia, and conferences

7 on Great Lakes research issues;

8 ‘‘(D) make recommendations for the uni9 form collection of data for enhancing Great

10 Lakes research and management protocols re11 lating to the Great Lakes ecosystem;

12 ‘‘(E) advise and cooperate in—

13 ‘‘(i) improving the compatible integra14 tion of multimedia data concerning the

15 Great Lakes ecosystem; and

16 ‘‘(ii) any effort to establish a com17 prehensive multimedia data base for the

18 Great Lakes ecosystem; and

19 ‘‘(F) ensure that the results, findings, and

20 information regarding Great Lakes research

21 programs conducted or sponsored by the Fed22 eral Government are disseminated in a timely

23 manner, and in useful forms, to interested per24 sons, using to the maximum extent practicable

25 mechanisms in existence on the date of the dis-
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1 semination, such as the Great Lakes Research

2 Inventory prepared by the International Joint

3 Commission.

4 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall con6 sist of 1 research manager with extensive

7 knowledge of, and scientific expertise and expe8 rience in, the Great Lakes ecosystem from each

9 of the following agencies and instrumentalities:

10 ‘‘(i) The Agency.

11 ‘‘(ii) The National Oceanic and At12 mospheric Administration.

13 ‘‘(iii) The National Biological Service.

14 ‘‘(iv) The United States Fish and

15 Wildlife Service.

16 ‘‘(v) Any other Federal agency or in17 strumentality that expends $1,000,000 or

18 more for a fiscal year on Great Lakes re19 search.

20 ‘‘(vi) Any other Federal agency or in21 strumentality that a majority of the Coun22 cil membership determines should be rep23 resented on the Council.

24 ‘‘(B) NONVOTING MEMBERS.—At the re25 quest of a majority of the Council membership,
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1 any person who is a representative of a Federal

2 agency or instrumentality not described in sub3 paragraph (A) or any person who is not a Fed4 eral employee may serve as a nonvoting member

5 of the Council.

6 ‘‘(4) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the

7 Council shall be a member of the Council from an

8 agency specified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of para9 graph (3)(A) who is elected by a majority vote of the

10 members of the Council. The chairperson shall serve

11 as chairperson for a period of 2 years. A member of

12 the Council may not serve as chairperson for more

13 than 2 consecutive terms.

14 ‘‘(5) EXPENSES.—While performing official du15 ties as a member of the Council, a member shall be

16 allowed travel or transportation expenses under sec17 tion 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

18 ‘‘(6) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.—The head

19 of each Federal agency or instrumentality that is

20 represented on the Council—

21 ‘‘(A) shall cooperate with the Council in

22 implementing the recommendations developed

23 under paragraph (2);

24 ‘‘(B) may, on written request of the chair25 person of the Council, make available, on a re-
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1 imbursable basis or otherwise, such personnel,

2 services, or facilities as may be necessary to as3 sist the Council in carrying out the duties of

4 the Council under this section; and

5 ‘‘(C) shall, on written request from the

6 chairperson, furnish data or information nec7 essary to carry out the duties of the Council

8 under this section.

9 ‘‘(7) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—The

10 Council shall cooperate, to the maximum extent

11 practicable, with the research coordination efforts of

12 the Council of Great Lakes Research Managers of

13 the International Joint Commission.

14 ‘‘(8) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REQUESTED ACTIVI15 TIES.—Each Federal agency or instrumentality rep16 resented on the Council may reimburse another Fed17 eral agency or instrumentality or a non-Federal en18 tity for costs associated with activities authorized

19 under this subsection that are carried out by the

20 other agency, instrumentality, or entity at the re21 quest of the Council.

22 ‘‘(9) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—

23 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.

24 App.) shall not apply to the Council.
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1 ‘‘(10) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in

2 this subsection affects the authority of any Federal

3 agency or instrumentality, under any law, to under4 take Great Lakes research activities.’’;

5 (3) in subsection (e)—

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the Pro7 gram Office and the Research Office shall pre8 pare a joint research plan’’ and inserting ‘‘the

9 Program Office, in consultation with the Coun10 cil, shall prepare a research plan’’; and

11 (B) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘the

12 Research Office, the Agency for Toxic Sub13 stances and Disease Registry, and Great Lakes

14 States’’ and inserting ‘‘the Council, the Agency

15 for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and

16 Great Lakes States,’’; and

17 (4) in subsection (h)—

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at

19 the end;

20 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’

21 and inserting a period; and

22 (C) by striking paragraph (3).

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen24 tence of section 403(a) of the Marine Protection, Re25 search, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1447b(a))
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1 is amended by striking ‘‘Great Lakes Research Office au2 thorized under’’ and inserting ‘‘Great Lakes Research

3 Council established by’’.

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