I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1152

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a National

Clean Water Trust Fund and to authorize the Administrator of the

Environmental Protection Agency to use amounts in that Fund to carry

out projects to restore and recover waters of the United States from

damages resulting from violations of that Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 7, 1995

Mr. VISCLOSKY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a National Clean Water Trust Fund and to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

Agency to use amounts in that Fund to carry out

projects to restore and recover waters of the United

States from damages resulting from violations of that

Act, 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 ‘‘National Clean Water

5 Trust Fund Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.

2 Section 309 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

3 Act (33 U.S.C. 1319) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following:

5 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.—

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

7 the Treasury a National Clean Water Trust Fund

8 (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the

9 ‘Fund’) consisting of amounts transferred to the

10 Fund under paragraph (2) and amounts credited to

11 the Fund under paragraph (3).

12 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS.—For fiscal year

13 1996, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary

14 of the Treasury shall transfer to the Fund an

15 amount determined by the Secretary to be equal to

16 the total amount deposited in the general fund of

17 the Treasury in the preceding fiscal year from fines,

18 penalties, and other moneys obtained through en19 forcement actions conducted pursuant to this section

20 and section 505(a)(1), including moneys obtained

21 under consent decrees and excluding any amounts

22 ordered to be used to carry out mitigation projects

23 under this section or section 505(a), as the case may

24 be.

25 ‘‘(3) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.—The Sec26 retary of the Treasury shall invest in interest-bear-
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1 ing obligations of the United States such portion of

2 the Fund as is not, in the Secretary’s judgment, re3 quired to meet current withdrawals. Such obligations

4 shall be acquired and sold and interest on, and the

5 proceeds from the sale or redemption of, such obliga6 tions shall be credited to the Fund in accordance

7 with the requirements of section 9602 of the Inter8 nal Revenue Code of 1986.

9 ‘‘(4) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR REMEDIAL

10 PROJECTS.—Amounts in the Fund shall be available,

11 as provided in appropriations Acts, to the Adminis12 trator to carry out projects to restore and recover

13 waters of the United States from damages resulting

14 from violations of this Act which are subject to en15 forcement actions under this section and similar

16 damages resulting from the discharge of pollutants

17 into the waters of the United States.

18 ‘‘(5) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—

19 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—In selecting projects to

20 carry out under this subsection, the Adminis21 trator shall give priority to a project to restore

22 and recover waters of the United States from

23 damages described in paragraph (4), if an en24 forcement action conducted pursuant to this

25 section or section 505(a)(1) against such viola-
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1 tion, or another violation in the same adminis2 trative region of the Environmental Protection

3 Agency as such violation, resulted in amounts

4 being deposited in the general fund of the

5 Treasury.

6 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION WITH STATES.—In

7 selecting projects to carry out under this sec8 tion, the Administrator shall consult with

9 States in which the Administrator is consider10 ing carrying out a project.

11 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS.—In de12 termining an amount to allocate to carry out a

13 project to restore and recover waters of the

14 United States from damages described in para15 graph (4), the Administrator shall, in the case

16 of a priority project under subparagraph (A),

17 take into account the total amount deposited in

18 the general fund of the Treasury as a result of

19 enforcement actions conducted with respect to

20 such violation pursuant to this section or sec21 tion 505(a)(1).

22 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator

23 may carry out a project under this subsection either

24 directly or by making grants to, or entering into
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1 contracts with, the Secretary of the Army or any

2 other public or private entity.

3 ‘‘(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1

4 year after the date of the enactment of this sub5 section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Adminis6 trator shall transmit to Congress a report on imple7 mentation of this subsection.’’.

8 SEC. 3. USE OF CIVIL PENALTIES FOR MITIGATION

9 PROJECTS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d) of the Federal

11 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1319(d)) is

12 amended by inserting after the second sentence the follow13 ing: ‘‘The court may, in the court’s discretion, order that

14 a civil penalty be used for carrying out mitigation projects

15 which are consistent with the purposes of this Act and

16 which enhance the public health or environment.’’.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 505(a) of

18 such Act (33 U.S.C. 1365(a)) is amended by inserting be19 fore the period at the end of the last sentence the follow20 ing: ‘‘, including ordering the use of a civil penalty for

21 carrying out mitigation projects in accordance with section

22 309(d)’’.

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