I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1262

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to improve the

enforcement and compliance programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1995

Mr. PALLONE (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.

TOWNS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. STARK, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. JACOBS,

Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, and Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida) 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

improve the enforcement and compliance programs.

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 ‘‘Clean Water Enforce5 ment and Compliance Improvement Amendments Act of

6 1995’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) a significant number of persons who have

2 been issued permits under section 402 of the Fed3 eral Water Pollution Control Act are in violation of

4 such permits;

5 (2) current enforcement programs of the Ad6 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

7 and the States fail to address violations of such per8 mits in a timely and effective manner;

9 (3) often violations of such permits continue for

10 a considerable period of time, yielding significant

11 economic benefits for the violator and thus penaliz12 ing similar facilities which act lawfully;

13 (4) penalties assessed and collected by the Ad14 ministrator from violators of such permits are often

15 less than the economic benefit gained by the violator;

16 (5) swift and timely enforcement by the Admin17 istrator and the States of violations of such permits

18 is necessary to increase levels of compliance with

19 such permits; and

20 (6) actions of private citizens have been effec21 tive in enforcing such permits and directing funds to

22 environmental mitigation projects with $11,000,000

23 in penalties and interest having been recovered and

24 deposited with the Treasury of the United States

25 over the fiscal years 1988 through 1993.
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1 (b) FINDING WITH RESPECT TO HARM CAUSED BY

2 VIOLATIONS.—Section 101 of the Federal Water Pollution

3 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251) is amended by adding at

4 the end the following:

5 ‘‘(h) FINDING WITH RESPECT TO HARM CAUSED BY

6 VIOLATIONS.—Congress finds that a discharge which re7 sults in a violation of this Act or a regulation, standard,

8 limitation, requirement, or order issued pursuant to this

9 Act interferes with the restoration and maintenance of the

10 chemical, physical, and biological integrity of any waters

11 into which the discharge flows (either directly or through

12 a publicly owned treatment works), including any waters

13 into which the receiving waters flow, and, therefore, harms

14 those who use or enjoy such waters and those who use

15 or enjoy nearby lands or aquatic resources associated with

16 those waters.

17 ‘‘(i) FINDING WITH RESPECT TO CITIZEN SUITS.—

18 Congress finds that citizen suits are a valuable means of

19 enforcement of this Act and urges the Administrator to

20 take actions to encourage such suits, including providing

21 information concerning violators to citizen groups to assist

22 them in bringing suits, providing expert witnesses and

23 other evidence with respect to such suits, and filing amicus

24 curiae briefs on important issues related to such suits.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. VIOLATIONS OF REQUIREMENTS OF LOCAL CON2 TROL AUTHORITIES.

3 Section 307(d) of Federal Water Pollution Control

4 Act (33 U.S.C. 1317(d)) is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(d) VIOLATIONS.—After the date on which (1) any

6 effluent standard or prohibition or pretreatment standard

7 or requirement takes effect under this section, or (2) any

8 requirement imposed in a pretreatment program under

9 section 402(a)(3) or 402(b)(8) of this Act takes effect, it

10 shall be unlawful for any owner or operator of any source

11 to operate such source in violation of the effluent stand12 ard, prohibition, pretreatment standard, or requirement.’’.

13 SEC. 4. INSPECTIONS, MONITORING, AND PROVIDING IN14 FORMATION.

15 (a) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS.—Section

16 308(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

17 U.S.C. 1318(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘the owner or op18 erator of any point source’’ and inserting ‘‘a person sub19 ject to a requirement of this Act’’.

20 (b) PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—The first

21 sentence of section 308(b) of such Act is amended—

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(including information con23 tained in the Permit Compliance System of the En24 vironmental Protection Agency)’’ after ‘‘obtained

25 under this section’’;

26 (2) by inserting ‘‘made’’ after ‘‘shall be’’; and
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1 (3) by inserting ‘‘by computer telecommuni2 cation and other means’’ after ‘‘public’’ the first

3 place it appears.

4 (c) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—Section 308 of such Act

5 is further amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—

7 ‘‘(1) POSTING OF NOTICE OF POLLUTED WA8 TERS.—At each major point of public access (includ9 ing, at a minimum, beaches, parks, recreation areas,

10 marinas, and boat launching areas) to a body of

11 navigable water that does not meet an applicable

12 water quality standard or that is subject to a fishing

13 and shell fishing ban, advisory, or consumption re14 striction (issued by a Federal, State, or local author15 ity) due to fish or shellfish contamination, the State

16 within which boundaries all or any part of such body

17 of water lies shall, either directly or through local

18 authorities, post and maintain a clearly visible sign

19 which—

20 ‘‘(A) indicates the water quality standard

21 that is being violated or the nature and extent

22 of the restriction on fish or shellfish consump23 tion, as the case may be;

24 ‘‘(B) includes (i) information on the envi25 ronmental and health effects associated with
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1 the failure to meet such standard or with the

2 consumption of fish or shellfish subject to the

3 restriction, and (ii) a phone number for obtain4 ing additional information relating to the viola5 tion and restriction; and

6 ‘‘(C) will be maintained until the body of

7 water is in compliance with the water quality

8 standard or until all fish and shellfish consump9 tion restrictions are terminated with respect to

10 the body of water, as the case may be.

11 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF DISCHARGES TO NAVIGABLE

12 WATERS.—Except for permits issued to municipali13 ties for discharges composed entirely of stormwater

14 under section 402 of this Act, each permit issued

15 under section 402 by the Administrator or by a

16 State shall ensure compliance with the following

17 requirements:

18 ‘‘(A) Every permittee shall conspicuously

19 maintain at all public entrances to the facility

20 a clearly visible sign which indicates that the

21 facility discharges pollutants into navigable wa22 ters and the location of such discharges; the

23 name, business address, and phone number of

24 the permittee; the permit number; and a loca25 tion at which a copy of the permit and public
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1 information required by this paragraph is main2 tained and made available for inspection or a

3 phone number for obtaining such information.

4 ‘‘(B) Each permittee which is a publicly

5 owned treatment works shall include in each

6 quarterly mailing of a bill to each customer of

7 the treatment works information which indi8 cates that the treatment works discharges pol9 lutants into the navigable waters and the loca10 tion of each of such discharges; the name, busi11 ness address and phone number of the permit12 tee; the permit number; a location at which a

13 copy of the permit and public information re14 quired by this paragraph is maintained and

15 made available for inspection or a phone num16 ber for obtaining such information; and a list of

17 all violations of the requirements of the permit

18 by the treatment works over the preceding 12-

19 month period.

20 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—

21 ‘‘(A) ISSUANCE.—The Administrator—

22 ‘‘(i) not later than 6 months after the

23 date of the enactment of this subsection,

24 shall propose regulations to carry out this

25 subsection; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) not later than 18 months after

2 such date of enactment, shall issue such

3 regulations.

4 ‘‘(B) CONTENT.—The regulations issued to

5 carry out this subsection shall establish—

6 ‘‘(i) uniform requirements and proce7 dures for identifying and posting bodies of

8 water under paragraph (1);

9 ‘‘(ii) minimum information to be in10 cluded in signs posted and notices issued

11 pursuant to this subsection;

12 ‘‘(iii) uniform requirements and proce13 dures for fish and shellfish sampling and

14 analysis;

15 ‘‘(iv) uniform requirements for deter16 mining the nature and extent of fish and

17 shellfish bans, advisories, and consumption

18 restrictions which—

19 ‘‘(I) address cancer and

20 noncancer human health risks;

21 ‘‘(II) take into account the ef22 fects of all fish and shellfish contami23 nants, including the cumulative and

24 synergistic effects;
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1 ‘‘(III) assure the protection of

2 subpopulations who consume higher

3 than average amounts of fish and

4 shellfish or are particularly susceptible

5 to the effects of such contamination;

6 ‘‘(IV) address race, gender, eth7 nic composition, or social and eco8 nomic factors, based on the latest

9 available studies of national or re10 gional consumption by and impacts on

11 such subpopulations unless more reli12 able site-specific data is available;

13 ‘‘(V) are based on a margin of

14 safety that takes into account the un15 certainties in human health impacts

16 from such contamination; and

17 ‘‘(VI) evaluate assessments of

18 health risks of contaminated fish and

19 shellfish that are used in pollution

20 control programs developed by the Ad21 ministrator under this Act.’’.

22 (d) STATE REPORTS.—Section 305(b)(1) of such Act

23 (33 U.S.C. 1315(b)(1)) is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara25 graph (D);
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub2 paragraph (E) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

3 (3) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(F) a list identifying bodies of water for

5 which signs were posted under section

6 308(e)(1) in the preceding year.’’.

7 SEC. 5. CIVIL PENALTIES.

8 (a) ENFORCEMENT OF LOCAL PRETREATMENT RE9 QUIREMENTS.—

10 (1) COMPLIANCE ORDERS.—

11 (A) INITIAL ACTION.—Section 309(a)(1) of

12 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

13 U.S.C. 1319(a)(1)) is amended by inserting

14 after ‘‘404 of this Act,’’ the following: ‘‘or is in

15 violation of any requirement imposed in a

16 pretreatment program approved under section

17 402(a)(3) or 402(b)(8) of this Act,’’.

18 (B) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS.—Section

19 309(a)(3) of such Act is amended by inserting

20 after ‘‘404 of this Act by a State,’’ the follow21 ing: ‘‘or is in violation of any requirement im22 posed in a pretreatment program approved

23 under section 402(a)(3) or 402(b)(8) of this

24 Act,’’.
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1 (2) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section

2 309(c)(3)(A) of such Act is amended by inserting

3 after ‘‘Army or by a State,’’ the following: ‘‘or know4 ingly violates any requirement imposed in a

5 pretreatment program approved under section

6 402(a)(3) or 402(b)(8) of this Act,’’.

7 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.—Section

8 309(g)(1)(A) of such Act is amended by inserting

9 after ‘‘404 by a State,’’ the following: ‘‘or has vio10 lated any requirement imposed in a pretreatment

11 program approved under section 402(a)(3) or

12 402(b)(8) of this Act or an order issued by the Ad13 ministrator under subsection (a) of this section,’’.

14 (b) TREATMENT OF SINGLE OPERATIONAL UP15 SETS.—

16 (1) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 309(c) of

17 such Act is amended by striking paragraph (5) and

18 redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs

19 (5) and (6), respectively.

20 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 309(d) of such

21 Act is amended by striking the last sentence.

22 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.—Section

23 309(g)(3) of such Act is amended by striking the

24 last sentence.
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1 (c) USE OF CIVIL PENALTIES FOR MITIGATION

2 PROJECTS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d) of such Act

4 is amended by inserting after the second sentence

5 the following: ‘‘The court may, in the court’s discre6 tion, order that a civil penalty be used for carrying

7 out mitigation projects which are consistent with the

8 purposes of this Act and which enhance the public

9 health or environment.’’.

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

11 505(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1365(a)) is amended

12 by inserting before the period at the end of the last

13 sentence the following: ‘‘, including ordering the use

14 of a civil penalty for carrying out mitigation projects

15 in accordance with such section 309(d)’’.

16 (d) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF PENALTIES.—

17 (1) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The second sentence of

18 section 309(d) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1319(d)) is

19 amended by inserting ‘‘the amount of any penalty

20 previously imposed on the violator by a court or ad21 ministrative agency for the same violation or viola22 tions,’’ after ‘‘economic impact of the penalty on the

23 violator,’’.

24 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.—Section

25 309(g)(3) of such Act is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or savings’’; or

2 (B) by inserting ‘‘the amount of any pen3 alty previously imposed on the violator by a

4 court or administrative agency for the same vio5 lation or violations,’’ after ‘‘resulting from the

6 violation,’’.

7 (e) LIMITATION ON DEFENSES.—Section 309(g)(1)

8 of such Act is amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘In a proceeding to assess or review a penalty under this

10 subsection, the adequacy of consultation between the Ad11 ministrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, and the

12 State shall not be a defense to assessment or enforcement

13 of such penalty.’’.

14 (f) AMOUNTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE CIVIL PEN15 ALTIES.—

16 (1) GENERAL RULE.—Section 309(g)(2) of

17 such Act is amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PENALTIES; NOTICE; HEAR19 ING.—

20 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF PENALTIES.—

21 The amount of a civil penalty under paragraph

22 (1) may not exceed $25,000 per violation per

23 day for each day during which the violation

24 continues.
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1 ‘‘(B) WRITTEN NOTICE.—Before issuing

2 an order assessing a civil penalty under this

3 subsection, the Administrator or the Secretary,

4 as the case may be, shall give to the person to

5 be assessed the penalty written notice of the

6 Administrator’s or Secretary’s proposal to issue

7 the order and the opportunity to request, within

8 30 days of the date the notice is received by

9 such person, a hearing on the proposed order.

10 ‘‘(C) HEARINGS NOT ON THE RECORD.—If

11 the proposed penalty does not exceed $25,000,

12 the hearing shall not be subject to section 554

13 or 556 of title 5, United States Code, but shall

14 provide a reasonable opportunity to be heard

15 and to present evidence.

16 ‘‘(D) HEARINGS ON THE RECORD.—If the

17 proposed penalty exceeds $25,000, the hearing

18 shall be on the record in accordance with sec19 tion 554 of title 5, United States Code. The

20 Administrator and the Secretary may issue

21 rules for discovery procedures for hearings

22 under this subparagraph.’’.

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section

24 309(g) of such Act is amended—
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1 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘class I

2 civil penalty or a class II’’;

3 (B) in the second sentence of paragraph

4 (4)(C) by striking ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of a class

5 I civil penalty and paragraph (2)(B) in the case

6 of a class II civil penalty’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’;

7 and

8 (C) in the first sentence of paragraph (8)

9 by striking ‘‘assessment—’’ and all that follows

10 through ‘‘by filing’’ and inserting ‘‘assessment

11 in the United States District Court for the Dis12 trict of Columbia or in the district in which the

13 violation is alleged to have occurred by filing’’.

14 (g) STATE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS AS BAR TO FED15 ERAL ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—Section 309(g)(6)(A) of

16 such Act is amended—

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘or’’ after the comma at the

18 end of clause (i);

19 (2) by striking clause (ii); and

20 (3) in clause (iii)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘, the Secretary, or the

22 State’’ and inserting ‘‘or the Secretary’’; and

23 (B) by striking ‘‘or such comparable State

24 law, as the case may be,’’.
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1 (h) RECOVERY OF ECONOMIC BENEFIT.—Section

2 309 of such Act is amended by adding at the end the

3 following:

4 ‘‘(h) RECOVERY OF ECONOMIC BENEFIT.—

5 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—Notwithstanding any

6 other provision of this section, any civil penalty as7 sessed and collected under this section must be in an

8 amount which is not less than the amount of the

9 economic benefit (if any) resulting from the violation

10 for which the penalty is assessed.

11 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 years

12 after the date of the enactment of this subsection,

13 the Administrator shall issue regulations establishing

14 a methodology for calculating the economic benefits

15 or savings resulting from violations of this Act.

16 Pending issuance of such regulations, this subsection

17 shall be in effect and economic benefits shall be cal18 culated for purposes of paragraph (1) on a case-by19 case basis.’’.

20 (i) LIMITATION ON COMPROMISES.—Such section

21 309 is further amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON COMPROMISES OF CIVIL PEN23 ALTIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec24 tion, the amount of a civil penalty assessed under this sec-
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1 tion may not be compromised below the amount deter2 mined by adding—

3 ‘‘(1) the minimum amount required for recovery

4 of economic benefit under subsection (h), to

5 ‘‘(2) 50 percent of the difference between the

6 amount of the civil penalty assessed and such mini7 mum amount.’’.

8 (j) MINIMUM AMOUNT FOR SERIOUS VIOLATIONS.—

9 Such section 309 is further amended by adding at the end

10 the following:

11 ‘‘(j) MINIMUM CIVIL PENALTIES FOR SERIOUS VIO12 LATIONS AND SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIERS.—

13 ‘‘(1) SERIOUS VIOLATIONS.—Notwithstanding

14 any other provision of this section (other than para15 graph (2)), the minimum civil penalty which shall be

16 assessed and collected under this section from a per17 son—

18 ‘‘(A) for a discharge from a point source of

19 a hazardous pollutant which exceeds or other20 wise violates any applicable effluent limitation

21 established by or under this Act by 20 percent

22 or more, or

23 ‘‘(B) for a discharge from a point source

24 of a pollutant (other than a hazardous pollut25 ant) which exceeds or otherwise violates any ap-
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1 plicable effluent limitation established by or

2 under this Act by 40 percent or more,

3 shall be $1,000 for the first such violation in a 180-

4 day period.

5 ‘‘(2) SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIERS.—Notwith6 standing any other provision of this section, the min7 imum civil penalty which shall be assessed and col8 lected under this section from a person—

9 ‘‘(A) for the second or more discharge in

10 a 180-day period from a point source of a haz11 ardous pollutant which exceeds or otherwise vio12 lates any applicable effluent limitation estab13 lished by or under this Act by 20 percent or

14 more,

15 ‘‘(B) for the second or more discharge in

16 a 180-day period from a point source of a pol17 lutant (other than a hazardous pollutant) which

18 exceeds or otherwise violates any applicable ef19 fluent limitation established by or under this

20 Act by 40 percent or more,

21 ‘‘(C) for the fourth or more discharge in a

22 180-day period from a point source of any pol23 lutant which exceeds or otherwise violates the

24 same effluent limitation, or
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1 ‘‘(D) for not filing in a 180-day period 2

2 or more reports in accordance with section

3 402(r)(1),

4 shall be $5,000 for each of such violations.

5 ‘‘(3) MANDATORY INSPECTIONS FOR SIGNIFI6 CANT NONCOMPLIERS.—The Administrator shall

7 identify any person described in paragraph (2) as a

8 significant noncomplier and shall conduct an inspec9 tion described in section 402(q) of this Act of the fa10 cility at which the violations were committed. Such

11 inspections shall be conducted at least once in the

12 180-day period following the date of the most recent

13 violation which resulted in such person being identi14 fied as a significant noncomplier.

15 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTING.—The Administrator

16 shall transmit to Congress and to the Governors of

17 the States, and shall publish in the Federal Register,

18 on an annual basis a list of all persons identified as

19 significant noncompliers under paragraph (3) in the

20 preceding calendar year and the violations which re21 sulted in such classifications.

22 ‘‘(5) HAZARDOUS POLLUTANT DEFINED.—For

23 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘hazardous pol24 lutant’ has the meaning the term ‘hazardous sub25 stance’ has under subsection (c)(6) of this section.’’.
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1 (k) STATE PROGRAM.—Section 402(b)(7) of such Act

2 (33 U.S.C. 1342(b)(7)) is amended to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(7) To abate violations of the permit or the

4 permit program which shall include, beginning on

5 the last day of the 2-year period beginning on the

6 date of the enactment of the Clean Water Compli7 ance and Enforcement Improvement Amendments

8 Act of 1995, a penalty program comparable to the

9 Federal penalty program under section 309 of this

10 Act and which shall include at a minimum criminal,

11 civil, and civil administrative penalties, and may in12 clude other ways and means of enforcement, which

13 the State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Ad14 ministrator are equally effective as the Federal pen15 alty program;’’.

16 (l) FEDERAL PROCUREMENT COMPLIANCE INCEN17 TIVE.—Section 508(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1368(a))

18 is amended by inserting after the second comma ‘‘or who

19 is identified under section 309(j)(3) of this Act,’’.

20 SEC. 6. NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION

21 PERMITS.

22 (a) WITHDRAWAL OF STATE PROGRAM APPROVAL.—

23 Section 402(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

24 (33 U.S.C. 1342(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘unless he

25 determines that adequate authority does not exist:’’ and
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1 inserting the following: ‘‘only when he determines that

2 adequate authority exists and shall withdraw program ap3 proval whenever he determines that adequate authority no

4 longer exists:’’.

5 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF RULINGS ON APPLICA6 TIONS FOR STATE PERMITS.—Section 402(b)(3) of such

7 Act is amended by inserting ‘‘and to ensure that any inter8 ested person who participated in the public comment proc9 ess and any other person who could obtain judicial review

10 of that action under any other applicable law has the right

11 to judicial review of such ruling’’ before the semicolon at

12 the end.

13 (c) INSPECTIONS FOR MAJOR INDUSTRIAL AND MU14 NICIPAL DISCHARGERS.—Section 402(b) of such Act is

15 amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

17 (8);

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (9) and inserting a semicolon; and

20 (3) by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(10) To ensure that any permit for a dis22 charge from a major industrial or municipal facility,

23 as defined by the Administrator by regulation, in24 cludes conditions under which such facility will be
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1 subject to at least annual inspections by the State

2 in accordance with subsection (q) of this section;’’.

3 (d) MONTHLY REPORTS FOR SIGNIFICANT INDUS4 TRIAL USERS OF POTWS.—Section 402(b) of such Act

5 is further amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(11) To ensure that any permit for a dis7 charge from a publicly owned treatment works in the

8 State includes conditions under which the treatment

9 works will require any significant industrial user of

10 the treatment works, as defined by the Adminis11 trator by regulation, to prepare and submit to the

12 Administrator, the State, and the treatment works a

13 monthly discharge monitoring report as a condition

14 to using the treatment works;’’.

15 (e) PERMITS REQUIRED FOR INTRODUCTION OF

16 POLLUTANTS INTO POTWS.—Section 402(b) of such Act

17 is further amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(12) To ensure that, after the last day of the

19 2-year period beginning on the date of the enact20 ment of this paragraph, any significant industrial

21 user, or other source designated by the Adminis22 trator, introducing a pollutant into a publicly owned

23 treatment works has, and operates in accordance

24 with, a permit issued by the treatment works or the

25 State for introduction of such pollutant; and’’.
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1 (f) GRANTING OF AUTHORITY TO POTWS FOR IN2 SPECTIONS AND PENALTIES.—Section 402(b) of such Act

3 is further amended by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(13) To ensure that the State will grant to

5 publicly owned treatment works in the State, not

6 later than 3 years after the date of the enactment

7 of this paragraph, authority, power, and responsibil8 ity to conduct inspections under subsection (q) of

9 this section and to assess and collect civil penalties

10 and civil administrative penalties under paragraph

11 (7) of this subsection.’’.

12 (g) INSPECTION.—Section 402 of such Act is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(q) INSPECTION.—

15 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—Each permit for a dis16 charge into the navigable waters or introduction of

17 pollutants into a publicly owned treatment works is18 sued under this section shall include conditions

19 under which the effluent being discharged will be

20 subject to random inspections in accordance with

21 this subsection by the Administrator or the State, in

22 the case of a State permit program under this

23 section.

24 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—The Adminis25 trator shall establish minimum standards for inspec-
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1 tions under this subsection. Such standards shall re2 quire, at a minimum, the following:

3 ‘‘(A) An annual representative sampling by

4 the Administrator or the State, in the case of

5 a State permit program under this section, of

6 the effluent being discharged; except that if the

7 discharge is not from a major industrial or mu8 nicipal facility such sampling shall be conducted

9 at least once every 3 years.

10 ‘‘(B) An analysis of all samples collected

11 under subparagraph (A) by a Federal or State

12 owned and operated laboratory or a State ap13 proved laboratory, other than one that is being

14 used by the permittee or that is directly or indi15 rectly owned, operated, or managed by the

16 permittee.

17 ‘‘(C) An evaluation of the maintenance

18 record of any treatment equipment of the

19 permittee.

20 ‘‘(D) An evaluation of the sampling tech21 niques used by the permittee.

22 ‘‘(E) A random check of discharge mon23 itoring reports of the permittee for each 12-

24 month period for the purpose of determining

25 whether or not such reports are consistent with
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1 the applicable analyses conducted under sub2 paragraph (B).

3 ‘‘(F) An inspection of the sample storage

4 facilities and techniques of the permittee.’’.

5 (h) REPORTING.—Section 402 of such Act is further

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(r) REPORTING.—

8 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—Each person holding a

9 permit issued under this section which is determined

10 by the Administrator to be a major industrial or mu11 nicipal discharger of pollutants into the navigable

12 waters shall prepare and submit to the Adminis13 trator a monthly discharge monitoring report. Any

14 other person holding a permit issued under this sec15 tion shall prepare and submit to the Administrator

16 quarterly discharge monitoring reports or more fre17 quent discharge monitoring reports if the Adminis18 trator requires. Such reports shall contain, at a min19 imum, such information as the Administrator shall

20 require by regulation.

21 ‘‘(2) REPORTING OF HAZARDOUS DIS22 CHARGES.—

23 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—If a discharge

24 from a point source for which a permit is issued

25 under this section exceeds an effluent limitation
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1 contained in such permit which is based on an

2 acute water quality standard or any other dis3 charge which may cause an exceedance of an

4 acute water quality standard or otherwise is

5 likely to cause injury to persons or damage to

6 the environment or to pose a threat to human

7 health and the environment, the person holding

8 such permit shall notify the Administrator, in

9 writing, of such discharge not later than 2

10 hours after the later of the time at which such

11 discharge commenced or the time at which the

12 permittee knew or had reason to know of such

13 discharge.

14 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR HAZARDOUS POL15 LUTANTS.—If a discharge described in subpara16 graph (A) is of a hazardous pollutant (as de17 fined in section 309(j) of this Act), the person

18 holding such permit shall provide the Adminis19 trator with such additional information on the

20 discharge as may be required by the Adminis21 trator. Such additional information shall be

22 provided to the Administrator within 24 hours

23 after the later of the time at which such dis24 charge commenced or the time at which the

25 permittee became aware of such discharge.
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1 Such additional information shall include, at a

2 minimum, an estimate of the danger posed by

3 the discharge to the environment, whether the

4 discharge is continuing, and the measures taken

5 or being taken (i) to remediate the problem

6 caused by the discharge and any damage to the

7 environment, and (ii) to avoid a repetition of

8 the discharge.

9 ‘‘(3) SIGNATURE.—All reports filed under para10 graph (1) must be signed by the highest ranking of11 ficial having day-to-day managerial and operational

12 responsibility for the facility at which the discharge

13 occurs or, in the absence of such person, by another

14 responsible high ranking official at such facility.

15 Such highest ranking official shall be responsible for

16 the accuracy of all information contained in such re17 ports; except that such highest ranking official may

18 file with the Administrator amendments to any such

19 report if the report was signed in the absence of the

20 highest ranking official by another high ranking offi21 cial and if such amendments are filed within 7 days

22 of the return of the highest ranking official.’’.

23 (i) LIMITATION ON ISSUANCE OF PERMITS TO SIG24 NIFICANT NONCOMPLIERS.—Section 402 of such Act is

25 further amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(s) SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIERS.—No permit may

2 be issued under this section to any person (other than a

3 publicly owned treatment works) identified under section

4 309(j)(3) of this Act or to any other person owned or con5 trolled by the identified person, owning or controlling the

6 identified person, or under common control with the iden7 tified person, until the Administrator or the State or

8 States in which the violation or violations occur deter9 mines that the condition or conditions giving rise to such

10 violation or violations have been corrected. No permit ap11 plication submitted after the date of the enactment of this

12 subsection may be approved unless the application in13 cludes a list of all violations of this Act by a person identi14 fied under section 309(j) of this Act during the 3-year pe15 riod preceding the date of submission of the application

16 and evidence indicating whether the underlying cause of

17 each such violation has been corrected.’’.

18 (j) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this

19 section shall apply to permits issued before, on, or after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act; except that—

21 (1) with respect to permits issued before such

22 date of enactment to a major industrial or municipal

23 discharger, such amendments shall take effect on the

24 last day of the 1-year period beginning on such date

25 of enactment; and
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1 (2) with respect to all other permits issued be2 fore such date of enactment, such amendments shall

3 take effect on the last day of the 2-year period be4 ginning on such date of enactment.

5 SEC. 7. EXPIRED STATE PERMITS.

6 Section 402(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Con7 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(d)) is amended by adding at the

8 end the following:

9 ‘‘(5) EXPIRED STATE PERMITS.—In any case in

10 which—

11 ‘‘(A) a permit issued by a State for a dis12 charge has expired,

13 ‘‘(B) the permittee has submitted an appli14 cation to the State for a new permit for the dis15 charge, and

16 ‘‘(C) the State has not acted on the appli17 cation before the last day of the 18-month pe18 riod beginning on the date the permit expired,

19 the Administrator may issue a permit for the dis20 charge under subsection (a).’’.

21 SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE.

22 Section 302(b)(2)(B) of the Federal Water Pollution

23 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1312(b)(2)(B)) is amended by

24 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Administrator may

25 only issue a permit pursuant to this subparagraph for a
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1 period exceeding 2 years if the Administrator makes the

2 findings described in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subpara3 graph on the basis of a public hearing.’’.

4 SEC. 9. EMERGENCY POWERS.

5 Section 504 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

6 Act (33 U.S.C. 1364) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 504. COMMUNITY PROTECTION.

8 ‘‘(a) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS; COURT ACTION.—Not9 withstanding any other provision of this Act, whenever the

10 Administrator finds that, because of an actual or threat11 ened direct or indirect discharge of a pollutant, there may

12 be an imminent and substantial endangerment to the pub13 lic health or welfare (including the livelihood of persons)

14 or the environment, the Administrator may issue such or15 ders or take such action as may be necessary to protect

16 public health or welfare or the environment and commence

17 a suit (or cause it to be commenced) in the United States

18 district court for the district where the discharge or threat

19 occurs. Such court may grant such relief to abate the

20 threat and to protect against the endangerment as the

21 public interest and the equities require, enforce, and ad22 judge penalties for disobedience to orders of the Adminis23 trator issued under this section, and grant other relief ac24 cording to the public interest and the equities of the case.
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1 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS.—Any person who,

2 without sufficient cause, violates or fails to comply with

3 an order of the Administrator issued under this section,

4 shall be liable for civil penalties to the United States in

5 an amount not to exceed $25,000 per day for each day

6 on which such violation or failure occurs or continues.’’.

7 SEC. 10. CITIZEN SUITS.

8 (a) SUITS FOR PAST VIOLATIONS.—Section 505 of

9 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1365)

10 is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by inserting ‘‘to have

12 violated or’’ after ‘‘who is alleged’’;

13 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii) by striking ‘‘oc14 curs’’ and inserting ‘‘has occurred or is occurring’’;

15 and

16 (3) in subsection (f)(6) by inserting ‘‘has been

17 or’’ after ‘‘which’’.

18 (b) TIME LIMIT.—Section 505(b)(1)(A) of such Act

19 is amended by striking ‘‘60 days’’ and inserting ‘‘30

20 days’’.

21 (c) EFFECT OF JUDGMENTS ON CITIZEN SUITS.—

22 Section 505(b) of such Act is further amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘, or a State’’; and
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘right.’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘right and may obtain costs of litigation under

3 subsection (d), or’’; and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The

5 notice under paragraph (1)(A) need set forth only

6 violations which have been specifically identified in

7 the discharge monitoring reports of the alleged viola8 tor. An action by a State under subsection (a)(1)

9 may be brought at any time. No judicial action by

10 the Administrator or a State shall bar an action for

11 the same violation under subsection (a)(1) unless the

12 action is by the Administrator and meets the re13 quirements of this paragraph. No administrative ac14 tion by the Administrator or a State shall bar a

15 pending action commenced after February 4, 1987,

16 for the same violation under subsection (a)(1) unless

17 the action by the Administrator or a State meets the

18 requirements of section 309(g)(6) of this Act.’’.

19 (d) CONSENT JUDGMENTS.—Section 505(c)(3) of

20 such Act is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘Consent judgments entered under this section may pro22 vide that the civil penalties included in the consent judg23 ment be used for carrying out mitigation projects in ac24 cordance with section 309(d).’’.
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1 (e) PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS.—Section

2 505(f)(4) of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘or

3 pretreatment standards’’ and inserting ‘‘or pretreatment

4 standard or requirement described in section 307(d)’’.

5 (f) EFFLUENT STANDARD DEFINITION.—Section

6 505(f)(6) of such Act is amended by inserting ‘‘narrative

7 or mathematical’’ before ‘‘condition’’.

8 (g) DEFINITION OF CITIZEN.—Section 505(g) of

9 such Act is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(g) CITIZEN DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec11 tion, the term ‘citizen’ means a person or persons having

12 an interest (including a recreational, aesthetic, environ13 mental, health, or economic interest) which is, has been,

14 or may be adversely affected and includes a person who

15 uses or enjoys the waters into which the discharge flows

16 (either directly or through a publicly owned treatment

17 works), who uses or enjoys aquatic resources or nearby

18 lands associated with the waters, or who would use or

19 enjoy the waters, aquatic resources, or nearby lands if they

20 were less polluted.’’.

21 (h) OFFERS OF JUDGMENT.—Section 505 of such

22 Act is further amended by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(i) APPLICABILITY OF OFFERS OF JUDGMENT.—Of24 fers of judgment pursuant to Rule 68 of the Federal Rules
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1 of Civil Procedure shall not be applicable to actions

2 brought under subsection (a)(1) of this section.’’.

3 SEC. 11. ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS.

4 Section 509(a)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution

5 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1369(a)(1)) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘obtaining information under section 305 of this Act,

7 or carrying out section 507(e) of this Act,’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘carrying out this Act,’’.

9 SEC. 12. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF EPA ACTIONS.

10 Section 509(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution

11 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1369(b)(1)) is amended—

12 (1) by inserting after the comma at the end of

13 clause (D) ‘‘including a decision to deny a petition

14 by interested person to veto an individual permit is15 sued by a State,’’;

16 (2) by inserting after the comma at the end of

17 clause (E) ‘‘including a decision not to include any

18 pollutant in such effluent limitation or other limita19 tion if the Administrator has or is made aware of in20 formation indicating that such pollutant is present

21 in any discharge subject to such limitation,’’; and

22 (3) by striking ‘‘and (G)’’ and inserting the fol23 lowing: ‘‘(G) in issuing or approving any water qual24 ity standard under section 303(c) or 303(d), (H) in

25 issuing any water quality criterion under section
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1 304(a), including a decision not to address any ef2 fect of the pollutant subject to such criterion if the

3 Administrator has or is made aware of information

4 indicating that such effect may occur, and (J)’’.

5 SEC. 13. NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Federal Water Pol7 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1361–1377) is amended by

8 redesignating section 519 as section 520 and by inserting

9 after section 518 the following new section:

10 ‘‘SEC. 519. NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.

11 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab12 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund

13 to be known as the ‘Clean Water Trust Fund’.

14 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—There are here15 by appropriated to the Clean Water Trust Fund amounts

16 equivalent to the penalties collected under section 309 of

17 this Act and the penalties collected under section 505(a)

18 of this Act (excluding any amounts ordered to be used to

19 carry out mitigation projects under section 309 or 505(a),

20 as the case may be).

21 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION OF TRUST FUND.—The Ad22 ministrator shall administer the Clean Water Trust Fund.

23 The Administrator may use moneys in the Fund to carry

24 out inspections and enforcement activities pursuant to this

25 Act. In addition, the Administrator may make such
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1 amounts of money in the Fund as the Administrator de2 termines appropriate available to carry out title VI of this

3 Act.’’.

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO STATE REVOLV5 ING FUND PROGRAM.—Section 607 of such Act (33

6 U.S.C. 1387) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

8 ‘‘There is’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF TRANSFERS FROM CLEAN

11 WATER TRUST FUND.—For purposes of this title,

12 amounts made available from the Clean Water Trust

13 Fund under section 519 of this Act to carry out this title

14 shall be treated as funds authorized to be appropriated

15 to carry out this title and as funds made available under

16 this title.’’.

17 SEC. 14. APPLICABILITY.

18 Sections 101(h), 309(g)(6)(A), 505(a)(1), 505(b),

19 505(g), and 505(i) of the Federal Water Pollution Control

20 Act, as inserted or amended by this Act, shall be applica21 ble to all cases pending under such Act on the date of

22 the enactment of this Act and all cases brought on or after

23 such date of enactment relating to violations which oc24 curred before such date of amendment.

Æ
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