IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2452 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24 (legislative day, JUNE 23), 2008 

Received 

AUGUST 1, 2008 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure 

that publicly owned treatment works monitor for and 

report sewer overflows, 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 ‘‘Sewage Overflow Com3 munity Right-to-Know Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(25) SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW.—The term 

9 ‘sanitary sewer overflow’ means an overflow, spill, 

10 release, or diversion of wastewater from a sanitary 

11 sewer system. Such term does not include municipal 

12 combined sewer overflows or other discharges from 

13 a municipal combined storm and sanitary sewer sys14 tem and does not include wastewater backups into 

15 buildings caused by a blockage or other malfunction 

16 of a building lateral that is privately owned. Such 

17 term includes overflows or releases of wastewater 

18 that reach waters of the United States, overflows or 

19 releases of wastewater in the United States that do 

20 not reach waters of the United States, and waste21 water backups into buildings that are caused by 

22 blockages or flow conditions in a sanitary sewer 

23 other than a building lateral. 

24 ‘‘(26) TREATMENT WORKS.—The term ‘treat25 ment works’ has the meaning given that term in sec26 tion 212.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC NOTIFICA2 TION OF SEWER OVERFLOWS. 

3 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

4 Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(r) SEWER OVERFLOW MONITORING, REPORTING, 

7 AND NOTIFICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—After the last 

9 day of the 180-day period beginning on the date on 

10 which regulations are issued under paragraph (4), a 

11 permit issued, renewed, or modified under this sec12 tion by the Administrator or the State, as the case 

13 may be, for a publicly owned treatment works shall 

14 require, at a minimum, beginning on the date of the 

15 issuance, modification, or renewal, that the owner or 

16 operator of the treatment works— 

17 ‘‘(A) institute and utilize a feasible meth18 odology, technology, or management program 

19 for monitoring sewer overflows to alert the 

20 owner or operator to the occurrence of a sewer 

21 overflow in a timely manner; 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of a sewer overflow that 

23 has the potential to affect human health, notify 

24 the public of the overflow as soon as practicable 

25 but not later than 24 hours after the time the 

26 owner or operator knows of the overflow; 


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1 ‘‘(C) in the case of a sewer overflow that 

2 may imminently and substantially endanger 

3 human health, notify public health authorities 

4 and other affected entities, such as public water 

5 systems, of the overflow immediately after the 

6 owner or operator knows of the overflow; 

7 ‘‘(D) report each sewer overflow on its dis8 charge monitoring report to the Administrator 

9 or the State, as the case may be, by describ10 ing— 

11 ‘‘(i) the magnitude, duration, and sus12 pected cause of the overflow; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the steps taken or planned to re14 duce, eliminate, or prevent recurrence of 

15 the overflow; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) the steps taken or planned to 

17 mitigate the impact of the overflow; and 

18 ‘‘(E) annually report to the Administrator 

19 or the State, as the case may be, the total num20 ber of sewer overflows in a calendar year, in21 cluding— 

22 ‘‘(i) the details of how much waste23 water was released per incident; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the duration of each sewer over25 flow; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the location of the overflow and 

2 any potentially affected receiving waters; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the responses taken to clean up 

4 the overflow; and 

5 ‘‘(v) the actions taken to mitigate im6 pacts and avoid further sewer overflows at 

7 the site. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The 

10 notification requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) 

11 and (1)(C) shall not apply a sewer overflow that 

12 is a wastewater backup into a single-family resi13 dence. 

14 ‘‘(B) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The 

15 reporting requirements of paragraphs (1)(D) 

16 and (1)(E) shall not apply to a sewer overflow 

17 that is a release of wastewater that occurs in 

18 the course of maintenance of the treatment 

19 works, is managed consistently with the treat20 ment works’ best management practices, and is 

21 intended to prevent sewer overflows. 

22 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO EPA.—Each State shall pro23 vide to the Administrator annually a summary of 

24 sewer overflows that occurred in the State. 


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1 ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING BY EPA.—Not later than one 

2 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

3 the Administrator, after providing notice and an op4 portunity for public comment, shall issue regulations 

5 to implement this subsection, including regulations 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(A) establish a set of criteria to guide the 

8 owner or operator of a publicly owned treat9 ment works in— 

10 ‘‘(i) assessing whether a sewer over11 flow has the potential to affect human 

12 health or may imminently and substan13 tially endanger human health; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) developing communication meas15 ures that are sufficient to give notice 

16 under paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C); and 

17 ‘‘(B) define the terms ‘feasible’ and ‘time18 ly’ as such terms apply to paragraph (1)(A), in19 cluding site specific conditions. 

20 ‘‘(5) APPROVAL OF STATE NOTIFICATION PRO21 GRAMS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS FOR APPROVAL.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After the date of 

24 issuance of regulations under paragraph 

25 (4), a State may submit to the AdminisVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:18 Aug 02, 2008 Jkt 069002 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2452.RFS H2452

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1 trator evidence that the State has in place 

2 a legally enforceable notification program 

3 that is substantially equivalent to the re4 quirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and 

5 (1)(C). 

6 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM REVIEW AND AUTHOR7 IZATION.—If the evidence submitted by a 

8 State under clause (i) shows the notifica9 tion program of the State to be substan10 tially equivalent to the requirements of 

11 paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C), the Admin12 istrator shall authorize the State to carry 

13 out such program instead of the require14 ments of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C). 

15 ‘‘(iii) FACTORS FOR DETERMINING

16 SUBSTANTIAL EQUIVALENCY.—In carrying 

17 out a review of a State notification pro18 gram under clause (ii), the Administrator 

19 shall take into account the scope of sewer 

20 overflows for which notification is required, 

21 the length of time during which notifica22 tion must be made, the scope of persons 

23 who must be notified of sewer overflows, 

24 the scope of enforcement activities ensur25 ing that notifications of sewer overflows 


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1 are made, and such other factors as the 

2 Administrator considers appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(B) REVIEW PERIOD.—If a State submits 

4 evidence with respect to a notification program 

5 under subparagraph (A)(i) on or before the last 

6 day of the 30-day period beginning on the date 

7 of issuance of regulations under paragraph (4), 

8 the requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and 

9 (1)(C) shall not begin to apply to a publicly 

10 owned treatment works located in the State 

11 until the date on which the Administrator com12 pletes a review of the notification program 

13 under subparagraph (A)(ii). 

14 ‘‘(C) WITHDRAWAL OF AUTHORIZATION.— 

15 If the Administrator, after conducting a public 

16 hearing, determines that a State is not admin17 istering and enforcing a State notification pro18 gram authorized under subparagraph (A)(ii) in 

19 accordance with the requirements of this para20 graph, the Administrator shall so notify the 

21 State and, if appropriate corrective action is not 

22 taken within a reasonable time, not to exceed 

23 90 days, the Administrator shall withdraw au24 thorization of such program and enforce the reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:18 Aug 02, 2008 Jkt 069002 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2452.RFS H2452

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1 quirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C) 

2 with respect to the State. 

3 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES CONCERNING APPLICA4 TION OF NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—After the 

5 last day of the 30-day period beginning on the date 

6 of issuance of regulations under paragraph (4), the 

7 requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C) 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) apply to the owner or operator of a 

10 publicly owned treatment works and be subject 

11 to enforcement under section 309, and 

12 ‘‘(B) supersede any notification require13 ments contained in a permit issued under this 

14 section for the treatment works to the extent 

15 that the notification requirements are less strin16 gent than the notification requirements of para17 graphs (1)(B) and (1)(C), 

18 until such date as a permit is issued, renewed, or 

19 modified under this section for the treatment works 

20 in accordance with paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol22 lowing definitions apply: 

23 ‘‘(A) SEWER OVERFLOW.—The term ‘sewer 

24 overflow’ means a sanitary sewer overflow or a 

25 municipal combined sewer overflow. 


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1 ‘‘(B) SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCE.—The 

2 term ‘single-family residence’ means an indi3 vidual dwelling unit, including an apartment, 

4 condominium, house, or dormitory. Such term 

5 does not include the common areas of a multi6 dwelling structure.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE. 

8 (a) PURPOSE OF STATE REVOLVING FUND.—Section 

9 601(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

10 U.S.C. 1381(a)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ the first place it appears; 

12 and 

13 (2) by inserting after ‘‘section 320’’ the fol14 lowing: ‘‘, and (4) for the implementation of require15 ments to monitor for sewer overflows under section 

16 402’’. 

17 (b) WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING LOAN

18 FUNDS.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 

19 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ the first place it appears; 

21 and 

22 (2) by inserting after ‘‘section 320 of this Act’’ 

23 the following: ‘‘, and (4) for the implementation of 


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1 requirements to monitor for sewer overflows under 

2 section 402’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 23, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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