I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2537 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating to beach 

monitoring, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Mr. BISHOP of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating 

to beach monitoring, 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 ‘‘Beach Protection Act 

5 of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BEACH WATER POLLUTION SOURCE IDENTIFICA7 TION AND PREVENTION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 406 of the Federal Water 

9 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1346) is amended in 

10 each of subsections (b), (c), (d), (g), and (h) by striking 


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1 ‘‘monitoring and notification’’ each place it appears and 

2 inserting ‘‘monitoring, public notification, source tracking, 

3 sanitary surveys, and prevention efforts to address the 

4 identified sources of beachwater pollution’’. 

5 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

6 406(i) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(i)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 

8 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘$60,000,000 for each of fis9 cal years 2007 through 2012’’. 

10 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR BEACHES ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS11 MENT AND COASTAL HEALTH ACT. 

12 Section 8 of the Beaches Environmental Assessment 

13 and Coastal Health Act of 2000 (114 Stat. 877) is amend14 ed by striking ‘‘2005’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

15 SEC. 4. STATE REPORTS. 

16 Section 406(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Federal Water Pollu17 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(b)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended 

18 by inserting ‘‘and all environmental agencies of the State 

19 with authority to prevent or treat sources of beachwater 

20 pollution’’ after ‘‘public’’. 

21 SEC. 5. USE OF RAPID TESTING METHODS. 

22 (a) CONTENTS OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

23 PROGRAMS.—Section 406(c)(4)(A) of the Federal Water 

24 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(c)(4)(A)) is 

25 amended by inserting ‘‘, including the use of a rapid testVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:39 May 31, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2537.IH H2537

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1 ing method after the last day of the one-year period fol2 lowing the date of approval of the rapid testing method 

3 by the Administrator’’ before the semicolon at the end. 

4 (b) REVISED CRITERIA.—Section 304(a)(9) of such 

5 Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(a)(9)) is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘rapid’’ before ‘‘testing’’; and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘, as appropriate’’. 

8 (c) DEFINITION.—Section 502 of such Act (33 

9 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(25) RAPID TESTING METHOD.—The term 

12 ‘rapid testing method’ means a method of testing for 

13 which results are available within 2 hours.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. PROMPT COMMUNICATION WITH STATE ENVIRON15 MENTAL AGENCIES. 

16 Section 406(c)(5) of the Federal Water Pollution 

17 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(c)(5)) is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘prompt communication’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘communication within 24 hours of the re20 ceipt of the results of a water quality sample’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara22 graph (A); 

23 (3) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 

24 the end of subparagraph (B); and 

25 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) all agencies of the State government 

2 with authority to require the prevention or 

3 treatment of the sources of beachwater pollu4 tion;’’. 

5 SEC. 7. CONTENT OF STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS. 

6 Section 406(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Con7 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(c)) is amended— 

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

9 (6); 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of para11 graph (7) and inserting a semicolon; 

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

13 ‘‘(8) measures to develop and implement a 

14 beachwater pollution source identification and track15 ing program for the coastal recreation waters that 

16 are not meeting applicable water quality standards 

17 for pathogens; 

18 ‘‘(9) a publicly accessible and searchable global 

19 information system database with information up20 dated within 24 hours of its availability, organized 

21 by beach and with defined standards, sampling plan, 

22 monitoring protocols, sampling results, and number 

23 and cause of beach closing and advisory days; and 

24 ‘‘(10) measures to ensure that closures or 

25 advisories are made or issued within 24 hours after 


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1 the State government determines that any coastal 

2 recreation waters in the State are not meeting or are 

3 not expected to meet applicable water quality stand4 ards for pathogens.’’. 

5 SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE REVIEW. 

6 Section 406(h) of the Federal Water Pollution Con7 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(h)) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

9 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

10 (2) by moving such subparagraphs 2 ems to the 

11 right; 

12 (3) by striking ‘‘In the’’ and inserting the fol13 lowing: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the’’; and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE REVIEW.—On or before July 

16 31 of each calendar year beginning after the date of 

17 enactment of this paragraph, the Administrator 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) prepare a written assessment of com20 pliance with all statutory and regulatory re21 quirements of this section for each State and 

22 local government and of compliance with condi23 tions of each grant made under this section to 

24 a State or local government; 


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1 ‘‘(B) notify the State or local government 

2 of such assessment; and 

3 ‘‘(C) make each of the assessments avail4 able to the public in a searchable database on 

5 or before December 31 of such calendar year. 

6 ‘‘(3) CORRECTIVE ACTION.—Any State or local 

7 government that the Administrator notifies under 

8 paragraph (2) that it is not in compliance with any 

9 requirement or grant condition described in para10 graph (2) shall take such action as may be necessary 

11 to comply with such requirement or condition within 

12 one year of the date of the notification. If the State 

13 or local government is not in compliance with such 

14 requirement or condition within one year of such 

15 date, any grants made under subsection (b) to the 

16 State or local government, after the last day of such 

17 one-year period and while the State or local govern18 ment is not in compliance with all requirements and 

19 grant conditions described in paragraph (2), shall 

20 have a Federal share of not to exceed 50 percent. 

21 ‘‘(4) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than December 

22 31 of the third calendar year beginning after the 

23 date of enactment of this paragraph, the Comp24 troller General shall conduct a review of the activi25 ties of the Administrator under paragraphs (2) and 


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1 (3) during the first and second calendar years begin2 ning after such date of enactment and submit to 

3 Congress a report on the results of such review.’’. 

Æ 


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