I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 839

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry

out a pilot program for restoration of urban watersheds and community

environments in the Anacostia River watershed, District of Columbia

and Maryland, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1999

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

Agency to carry out a pilot program for restoration of

urban watersheds and community environments in the

Anacostia River watershed, District of Columbia and

Maryland, 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 Urban Water5 shed Model Restoration Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ANACOSTIA RIVER WATERSHED RESTORATION AND

2 PROTECTION PILOT PROGRAM.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi4 ronmental Protection Agency shall develop and carry out

5 a pilot program to serve as a national model for the res6 toration of urban watersheds and community environ7 ments. The purposes of the program shall be to dem8 onstrate methods to encourage urban communities to use

9 their environmental resources as a catalyst for sustainable

10 community redevelopment and to meet the objectives of

11 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, including

12 stormwater, combined sewer overflows, and other water

13 quality objectives. The program shall have a dual function

14 of restoration and protection of river resources and reduc15 tion of environmental human health risks in the surround16 ing communities.

17 (b) LOCATION.—The pilot program under this section

18 shall be carried out in the Anacostia River watershed, Dis19 trict of Columbia and Maryland.

20 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the program under

21 this section, the Administrator shall—

22 (1) integrate on a community or geographic

23 basis the regulatory and nonregulatory programs of

24 the Environmental Protection Agency with other

25 Federal, State, and local government programs and

26 provide effective coordination among such programs;
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1 (2) support baseline monitoring efforts of State

2 and local governments to determine key trends in

3 ambient environmental conditions for the purpose of

4 filling gaps in critical data about the environmental

5 condition of the watershed;

6 (3) develop and maintain environmental indica7 tors in conjunction with interested public entities

8 and ensure regular public reporting of these indica9 tors;

10 (4) provide grants in accordance with sub11 section (d) to local community groups and nonprofit

12 organizations to foster community involvement in

13 the decisionmaking process, environmental edu14 cational goals, and restoration strategies;

15 (5) assist in the establishment of measurable

16 goals for such restoration;

17 (6) maintain annual program plans which pro18 vide for public input;

19 (7) provide opportunities for the education of

20 school children and community groups on local envi21 ronmental resources and on what individuals can do

22 to reduce environmental and health risks;

23 (8) develop consensus strategies for the restora24 tion and protection of the watershed in cooperation
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1 with other Federal, State, and local groups to ad2 dress critical issues and needs;

3 (9) maintain a biennial Federal work planning

4 process for Federal landholders and programmatic

5 agencies to identify specific opportunities and needs

6 for Federal activities in support of the pilot pro7 gram’s goals;

8 (10) demonstrate new technologies and ap9 proaches which are applicable nationally to

10 stormwater management, combined sewer overflow

11 control, floatables reduction, forest buffer restora12 tion, and other activities being conducted under the

13 Federal Water Pollution Control Act;

14 (11) participate in urban habitat improvement

15 projects in the watershed on a demonstration basis;

16 (12) assist in the implementation of the re17 gional action plan for toxics reduction and preven18 tion in the watershed;

19 (13) implement on the ground projects for res20 toration of the watershed to the extent they are

21 unique or transferable to national audiences; and

22 (14) maintain and enhance the Biennial Work

23 Plan for the Anacostia River Watershed published

24 by the United States Army Corp of Engineers and

25 the Environmental Protection Agency on April 22,
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1 1997, for the purpose of identifying specific opportu2 nities for Federal landholders to contribute to the

3 pilot program.

4 (d) CHALLENGE GRANTS.—

5 (1) SET-ASIDE.—The Administrator may set

6 aside no less than $400,000 of amounts appro7 priated to carry out this section for each fiscal year

8 to make grants under subsection (c)(4).

9 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

10 SHARE.—The Environmental Protection Agency’s

11 share of the costs of activities to be carried out with

12 a grant under this section shall be not less than 75

13 percent. The remaining share of such costs may be

14 provided through in-kind contributions and may be

15 provided from Federal funds appropriated to carry

16 out any law, other than this Act, if the Federal

17 agency making such funds available agrees.

18 (e) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the pilot pro19 gram under this section, the Administrator shall work in

20 coordination with other Federal agencies, particularly the

21 Army Corps of Engineers, to identify projects and activi22 ties which are supportive of the goals of the pilot program.

23 (f) REPORTS.—The Administrator shall transmit to

24 Congress by January 1 of each fiscal years 2000 through

25 2004 a report on the activities carried out under, and re-
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1 sults of, the pilot program during the preceding fiscal

2 year, including a report on the technical, managerial, and

3 public involvement aspects of the pilot program which are

4 transferable to other urban areas.

5 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

6 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

7 $750,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

8 Such sums shall remain available until expended.

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