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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4962

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating to the Coeur

d’Alene Basin Management Conference.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 12, 1994

Mr. LAROCCO introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Public Works and Transportation, Natural Resources,

Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating

to the Coeur d’Alene Basin Management Conference.

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 ‘‘Coeur d’Alene Basin

5 Restoration Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. COEUR D’ALENE BASIN MANAGEMENT CON7 FERENCE.

8 Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

9 (33 U.S.C. 1251–1270) is amended by adding at the end

10 the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 121. COEUR D’ALENE BASIN MANAGEMENT CON2 FERENCE.

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Coeur

4 d’Alene Basin Management Conference to develop a com5 prehensive pollution prevention, control, and restoration

6 plan for the Coeur d’Alene Basin. The Administrator shall

7 convene the management conference within 30 days of the

8 date of the enactment of this section.

9 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Man11 agement Conference shall be comprised of—

12 ‘‘(A) a representative of the Environmental

13 Protection Agency;

14 ‘‘(B) a representative of the Coeur d’Alene

15 Indian tribe; and

16 ‘‘(C) a representative of the Idaho Depart17 ment of Environmental Quality.

18 ‘‘(2) STEERING COMMITTEE.—The Manage19 ment Conference shall appoint—

20 ‘‘(A) a management advisory committee;

21 ‘‘(B) a technical advisory committee; and

22 ‘‘(C) a citizens’ advisory committee.

23 ‘‘(3) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The Management

24 Conference shall have ex officio members which shall

25 include, at a minimum, the Member of the United
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1 States House of Representatives within whose con2 gressional district lies the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

3 ‘‘(c) POLLUTION PREVENTION, CONTROL, AND RES4 TORATION PLAN.—

5 ‘‘(1) PUBLICATION DEADLINE.—Not later than

6 1 year after the date of the enactment of this sec7 tion, the Management Conference shall publish a

8 water pollution prevention, control, and restoration

9 plan (hereinafter in this section referred to as the

10 ‘Plan’) for the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

11 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The Plan developed pursuant

12 to this section shall—

13 ‘‘(A) clarify the duties of Federal and

14 State agencies and other persons in water pollu15 tion prevention and control activities, and to the

16 extent allowable by law, suggest a reasonable

17 timetable for adoption by the appropriate Fed18 eral and State agencies to accomplish such du19 ties;

20 ‘‘(B) describe the methods and schedules

21 for funding of programs, activities, and projects

22 identified in the Plan, including the use of Fed23 eral and other sources of funds;

24 ‘‘(C) incorporate environmental manage25 ment concepts and programs established in
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1 State and Federal plans and programs in effect

2 at the time of the development of the Plan; and

3 ‘‘(D) include a strategy for water pollution

4 prevention and control in the Coeur d’Alene

5 Basin, including the promotion of pollution pre6 vention and management practices to reduce

7 the amount of pollution generated in the Coeur

8 d’Alene Basin.

9 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.—The Ad10 ministrator, in cooperation with the Management

11 Conference, shall provide for public review and com12 ment on the draft Plan. At a minimum, the Manage13 ment Conference shall conduct one public meeting to

14 hear comments on the draft plan in the State of

15 Idaho.

16 ‘‘(4) APPROVAL.—Not less than 30 days after

17 the publication of the Plan required pursuant to this

18 section, the Administrator shall approve the Plan if

19 the Plan meets the requirements of this section.

20 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT.—Upon approval of the Plan,

21 the Plan shall be deemed to be an approved manage22 ment program for the purposes of section 319(h) of

23 this Act and such plan shall be deemed to be an ap24 proved comprehensive conservation and management

25 plan pursuant to section 320 of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon approval of the

2 Plan under this subsection, the Plan shall be imple3 mented.

4 ‘‘(d) GRANT ASSISTANCE.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may, in

6 consultation with the Management Conference, make

7 grants to State, interstate, and regional water pollu8 tion control agencies, and public or nonprofit agen9 cies, institutions, and organizations.

10 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—Grants under this subsection

11 shall be made for assisting development of the Plan,

12 including research, surveys, studies, and modeling

13 and technical and supporting work necessary for the

14 development of the Plan.

15 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The amount of grants

16 to any person under this subsection for a fiscal year

17 shall not exceed 70 percent of the costs of develop18 ment of the Plan and shall be made available on the

19 condition that non-Federal share of such costs are

20 provided from non-Federal sources. The non-Federal

21 share may be provided by in-kind services.

22 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Adminis23 trator may establish such terms and conditions for

24 the administration of grants as the Administrator

25 determines to be appropriate.
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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

2 term ‘Coeur d’Alene Basin’’ means the watershed in

3 northern Idaho containing the South Fork of the Coeur

4 d’Alene River, the main stem of the Coeur d’Alene River,

5 and Lake Coeur d’Alene.

6 ‘‘(f) STATUTORY INTERPRETATION.—Nothing in this

7 section shall be used to affect the jurisdiction or powers

8 of—

9 ‘‘(1) any department or agency of the United

10 States or any State; or

11 ‘‘(2) any entity related to the Coeur d’Alene

12 Basin created by treaty or memorandum to which

13 the United States is a signatory.

14 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be

15 appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency to

16 carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for

17 fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999.’’.

18 SEC. 3. FEDERAL PROGRAM COORDINATION.

19 (a) COOPERATION OF THE UNITED STATES GEO20 LOGICAL SURVEY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTE21 RIOR.—For the purpose of enhancing and expanding basic

22 data collection and monitoring in operation in the Coeur

23 d’Alene Basin, as defined under section 121 of the Federal

24 Water Pollution Control Act, the Secretary of the Interior,

25 acting through the heads of water resources divisions of
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1 the Idaho and Washington districts of the United States

2 Geological Survey, shall—

3 (1) in cooperation with appropriate universities

4 and private research institutions and appropriate of5 ficials of the appropriate departments and agencies

6 of the States of Idaho and Washington, develop an

7 integrated geographic information system of the

8 Coeur d’Alene Basin;

9 (2) convert all partial recording sites in the

10 Coeur d’Alene Basin to continuous monitoring sta11 tions with full gauging capabilities and status; and

12 (3) establish such additional continuous mon13 itoring station sites in the Coeur d’Alene Basin as

14 are necessary to carry out basic data collection and

15 monitoring, as defined by the Secretary of the Inte16 rior, including ground water mapping, and water

17 quality and sediment data collection.

18 (b) COOPERATION OF THE UNITED STATES FISH

19 AND WILDLIFE SERVICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE

20 INTERIOR.—

21 (1) RESOURCE CONSERVATION PROGRAM.—The

22 Secretary of the Interior, acting through the United

23 States Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with

24 the Coeur d’Alene Fish and Wildlife Management

25 Cooperative and the Coeur d’Alene Basin Manage-
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1 ment Conference established pursuant to section 121

2 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, shall—

3 (A) establish and implement a fisheries re4 sources restoration, development, and conserva5 tion program, including dedicating a level of

6 hatchery production within the Coeur d’Alene

7 Basin at or above the level that existed imme8 diately preceding the date of the enactment of

9 this Act; and

10 (B) conduct a wildlife species and habitat

11 assessment survey in the Coeur d’Alene Basin,

12 including—

13 (i) a survey of Federal threatened and

14 endangered species, listed or proposed for

15 listing under the Endangered Species Act

16 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Idaho

17 State and Washington State threatened

18 and endangered species and other species

19 of special concern, migratory nongame spe20 cies of management concern, and national

21 resources plan species; and

22 (ii) a survey of migratory bird popu23 lations breeding, migrating, and wintering

24 within the Coeur d’Alene Basin.
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1 (2) ACTIVITIES.—To accomplish the purposes

2 of paragraph (1), the Director of the United States

3 Fish and Wildlife Service is authorized to carry out

4 activities related to—

5 (A) improving the health of fishery re6 sources;

7 (B) conducting investigations about the

8 status of fishery resources, and disseminating

9 that information to all interested parties; and

10 (C) conducting and periodically updating a

11 survey of the fishery resources and their habi12 tats and food chains in the Coeur d’Alene

13 Basin.

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Department of the

16 Interior such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years

17 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 to carry out sub18 sections (a) and (b) of this section.

19 SEC. 4. RESTORATION PLAN.

20 (a) COOPERATION OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU

21 OF LAND MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE

22 INTERIOR.—For the purpose of restoring and managing

23 of public lands, public uses, and the basin restoration

24 areas, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
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1 State director of the Bureau of Land Management,

2 shall—

3 (1) cooperatively with the other natural re4 source trustees, develop and implement a restoration

5 plan for the public lands and other contaminated

6 lands to reduce human and environmental risks in

7 the Coeur d’Alene Basin, as defined in section 121

8 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act;

9 (2) develop and maintain a computerized geo10 graphical information system inventory of abandoned

11 or inactive mining sites and extensively mine waste

12 contaminated areas in the Basin, including audits,

13 tailing piles, mill sites, and processing facilities,

14 their location, key contaminants, their concentra15 tions and loading rates, and other information perti16 nent to evaluation and prioritization;

17 (3) provide for the cleanup of mining contami18 nated sites or areas and the restoration of damaged

19 natural resources on public lands or land acquired to

20 be restored in the Basin;

21 (4) develop and implement stream and river

22 restoration plans which would involve the rebuilding

23 of stream structure, placement of wood debris, habi24 tat structures, and habitat rocks, stabilization of

25 banks, and riparian plantings in the Basin;
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1 (5) provide for monitoring of restored areas in

2 order to document the effectiveness of the restora3 tion and identify any residual problems not suffi4 ciently corrected;

5 (6) cooperatively with the other land managing

6 and public health agencies, the Coeur d’Alene Indian

7 tribe, regulators, and land owners, develop and im8 plement a land management plan for the public

9 lands and other lands in the Basin to reduce human

10 health and environmental risks;

11 (7) develop and maintain cooperatively an inte12 grated computerized geographical information sys13 tem of cultural and ecological resources, location of

14 source and contaminated areas, and records of res15 toration and management activities to ensure long16 term coordinated management within the Basin;

17 (8) working with the Forest Service, Fish and

18 Wildlife Service, Idaho Department of Fish and

19 Game, the Coeur d’Alene Indian tribe, and other

20 wildlife interests, develop wildlife and fishery habitat

21 management plans for the streams, river, lakes, and

22 wetlands in the Basin, including development of co23 operative wildlife management areas;

24 (9) provide for monitoring of wildlife manage25 ment areas in the Basin for effectiveness of wildlife
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1 improvements and restoration and management ac2 tivities;

3 (10) working with the Forest Service, Idaho

4 Departments of Fish and Game and Parks and

5 Recreation, public health agencies, the Coeur

6 d’Alene Indian tribe, and other public recreation in7 terests develop an integrated public recreation man8 agement plan for the Basin to provide public infor9 mation and minimize recreational health risks; and

10 (11) develop and implement a lake and river in11 formation program to provide public use and health

12 risk information in the Basin along with the recre13 ation management and maintenance of public land

14 sites.

15 (b) POWERS OF BLM.—To accomplish the purposes

16 of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (a), the Di17 rector of the United States Bureau of Land Management

18 is authorized to carry out activities related to—

19 (1) data collection and other inventory of min20 ing waste source areas and contaminated lands;

21 (2) data management of resource information,

22 restoration activities, and monitoring and manage23 ment data;

24 (3) accepting or acquiring mining contaminated

25 lands to restore and manage for the purpose of mini-
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1 mizing long-term human health and natural resource

2 risks;

3 (4) design, engineering, construction, and main4 tenance of restoration projects and management fa5 cilities;

6 (5) design, oversee construction, and manage7 ment of repositories for mine waste and mine con8 taminated soil needed for restoration activities;

9 (6) lake and river information program, public

10 use information, and recreation use supervision;

11 (7) long-term restoration and land management

12 plans for contaminated and restored lands; and

13 (8) providing long-term maintenance and man14 agement of restored public lands.

15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

16 authorized to be appropriated to the Department of the

17 Interior, Bureau of Land Management, such sums as may

18 be necessary for fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,

19 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 to carry out subsections (a)

20 and (b) of this section.

21 SEC. 5. EXEMPTION FROM CERCLA LIABILITY.

22 The Environmental Protection Agency and the De23 partment of the Interior shall be specifically exempted

24 from liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Re25 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 for ac-
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1 tions taken under this Act, including any amendment

2 made by this Act.

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