I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8579 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out further 

improvement of Onondaga Lake, New York, and for the purposes of 

integrating research, education, planning and restoration of the watershed. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2024 

Mr. WILLIAMS 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 to direct 

the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out further improvement of Onondaga Lake, 

New York, and for the purposes of integrating research, 

education, planning and restoration of the watershed. 

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 ‘‘Onondaga Lake Water5 shed Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the recovery of Onon3 daga Lake is of National importance. 

4 SEC. 3. ONONDAGA LAKE, NEW YORK. 

5 (a) MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Title I of the Fed6 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 127. ONONDAGA LAKE, NEW YORK. 

9 ‘‘(a) MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF ONONDAGA LAKE WA11 TERSHED COUNCIL.—The Administrator shall estab12 lish a council, to be known as the ‘Onondaga Lake 

13 Watershed Council’, to develop a plan, to be known 

14 as the ‘Adaptive Management Plan’, consistent with 

15 the Onondaga Lake Management Plan, for further 

16 improvement of Onondaga Lake. 

17 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION OF ADAPTIVE MANAGE18 MENT PLAN.—The Administrator shall cooperate 

19 with Federal and State agencies to carry out the 

20 recommendations of the Adaptive Management Plan, 

21 and such recommendations shall be carried out— 

22 ‘‘(A) in consultation with the Onondaga 

23 Lake Watershed Council; and 

24 ‘‘(B) with the participation of the public, 

25 including the Onondaga Nation, Federal, State, 

26 and local governmental entities, and any other 


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1 entities that may be affected by activities car2 ried out under this section. 

3 ‘‘(b) ONONDAGA LAKE WATERSHED COUNCIL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE MAN6 AGEMENT PLAN.—The Onondaga Lake Water7 shed Council shall develop and periodically re8 vise the Adaptive Management Plan in con9 sultation with the Onondaga Lake Scientific 

10 Center established under subsection (d). 

11 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM FOR

12 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Onondaga Lake 

13 Watershed Council shall establish and carry out 

14 a comprehensive, inclusive, and ongoing pro15 gram for participation of the public, including 

16 the Onondaga Nation, Federal, State, and local 

17 governmental entities, and any other entities 

18 that may be affected by activities under this 

19 section, in the development and revision of the 

20 Adaptive Management Plan under subpara21 graph (A). 

22 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Onondaga Lake 

24 Watershed Council shall consist of the following 

25 members: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The Administrator. 

2 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of the Army. 

3 ‘‘(iii) The head of any other interested 

4 Federal department of agency, as deter5 mined by the Administrator. 

6 ‘‘(iv) A representative of the Governor 

7 of the State of New York. 

8 ‘‘(v) A representative of the Attorney 

9 General. 

10 ‘‘(vi) A representative designated by 

11 the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs. 

12 ‘‘(vii) A representative designated by 

13 the County Executive of Onondaga County, 

14 New York. 

15 ‘‘(viii) A representative designated by 

16 the mayor of the City of Syracuse, New 

17 York. 

18 ‘‘(B) EX OFFICIO MEMBERSHIP.—The On19 ondaga Lake Watershed Council shall consist of 

20 the following ex officio, nonvoting members: 

21 ‘‘(i) The Senators from the State of 

22 New York. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Each Member of the House of 

24 Representatives whose congressional disVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Jul 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8579.IH H8579

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1 trict is located all or partially within the 

2 Onondaga Lake watershed. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Each member of the New York 

4 State Legislature whose district is located 

5 all or partially within the Onondaga Lake 

6 watershed. 

7 ‘‘(iv) Other members as the Adminis8 trator determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(C) DESIGNEES.—Any member of the 

10 Onondaga Lake Watershed Council specified in 

11 clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) or 

12 in subparagraph (B) may appoint a designee to 

13 serve in place of the member on the Council. 

14 ‘‘(3) COMMITTEES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Onondaga 

16 Lake Watershed Council shall adopt bylaws 

17 providing for the establishment of standing 

18 committees including the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) A Public Participation Com20 mittee. 

21 ‘‘(ii) A Science and Engineering Com22 mittee, which shall include representatives 

23 of the member institutions of the Onon24 daga Lake Science Center established 

25 under subsection (d). 


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1 ‘‘(B) APPOINTMENT.—The Onondaga 

2 Lake Watershed Council shall appoint members 

3 to each committee described in subparagraph 

4 (A). 

5 ‘‘(c) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF GOALS.—In devel7 oping the Adaptive Management Plan under this 

8 section, the Onondaga Lake Watershed Council shall 

9 identify measurable goals for— 

10 ‘‘(A) the further restoration, conservation, 

11 and management of Onondaga Lake; and 

12 ‘‘(B) compliance with all provisions of law 

13 affecting the further restoration and conserva14 tion of Onondaga Lake, including the water 

15 quality standards established for Onondaga 

16 Lake (including total maximum daily loads es17 tablished under section 303(d)(C)) and the 

18 Amended Consent Judgment and all effluent 

19 limitations therein (or otherwise promulgated 

20 under this Act). 

21 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATION OF STRATEGIES.—To 

22 achieve the goals identified under paragraph (1), the 

23 Onondaga Lake Watershed Council shall incorporate 

24 and specify the recommendations of the Onondaga 

25 Lake Management Plan in the Adaptive ManageVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Jul 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8579.IH H8579

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1 ment Plan and recommend strategies for manage2 ment of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the biological and chemical makeup 

4 and structural attributes of Onondaga Lake; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) the use of Onondaga Lake for edu7 cational, recreational, and other purposes. 

8 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ACTIVI9 TIES.—The strategies recommended under para10 graph (2) shall provide for coordination with all 

11 other activities to further restore or conserve, or oth12 erwise affecting the restoration or conservation of, 

13 Onondaga Lake, including ongoing public participa14 tion activities, scientific and engineering activities, 

15 and other activities carried out under Federal, State, 

16 or local law. 

17 ‘‘(4) ONGOING EVALUATION OF STRATEGIES.— 

18 To evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies rec19 ommended under paragraph (2) in achieving the 

20 goals identified under paragraph (1), the Onondaga 

21 Lake Watershed Council shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) identify a specific, integrated sci23 entific and engineering program, which may in24 clude monitoring, process studies, and mod25 eling, by which the Council may make such 


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1 evaluation, and provide for the periodic revision 

2 of such program to achieve such goals; 

3 ‘‘(B) establish and implement the inte4 grated scientific and engineering program iden5 tified under subparagraph (A); and 

6 ‘‘(C) provide for the periodic evaluation of 

7 the information provided by such program. 

8 ‘‘(5) APPROVAL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The recommendations 

10 of the Adaptive Management Plan shall not be 

11 implemented under subsection (a)(2) before the 

12 date on which the plan is approved by the Ad13 ministrator, in consultation with the Governor 

14 of the State of New York. 

15 ‘‘(B) TIMELINE.—The Administrator, after 

16 providing an opportunity for public review and 

17 comment, shall approve the Adaptive Manage18 ment Plan not later than 120 days after the 

19 date on which such plan is developed if the 

20 Adaptive Management Plan meets the require21 ments of this section. 

22 ‘‘(6) EFFECT ON ONONDAGA LAKE MANAGE23 MENT PLAN.—This section shall not be construed to 

24 interfere with any activity carried out under the On25 ondaga Lake Management Plan, or any other activVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Jul 17, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8579.IH H8579

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1 ity affecting the further restoration, conservation or 

2 management of Onondaga Lake. 

3 ‘‘(d) ONONDAGA LAKE SCIENTIFIC CENTER.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Onondaga Lake 

5 Watershed Council shall establish and direct a cen6 ter to be known as the ‘Onondaga Lake Scientific 

7 Center’. 

8 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Onondaga Lake Scientific 

9 Center shall advise the Onondaga Lake Watershed 

10 Council on— 

11 ‘‘(A) development of benchmarks to accom12 plish the goals identified under subsection 

13 (c)(1); 

14 ‘‘(B) implementation of the strategies rec15 ommended under subsection (c)(2); 

16 ‘‘(C) implementation of the integrated sci17 entific and engineering program under sub18 section (c)(4); 

19 ‘‘(D) establishment of the program for 

20 public participation described in subsection 

21 (b)(1)(B); and 

22 ‘‘(E) other matters concerning the develop23 ment and implementation of the Adaptive Man24 agement Plan under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Onondaga Lake Sci2 entific Center shall consist of the following members: 

3 ‘‘(A) The Administrator. 

4 ‘‘(B) Non-Federal entities appointed by the 

5 Onondaga Lake Watershed Council, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) Syracuse University; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the State University of New 

8 York College of Environmental Science and 

9 Forestry; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the Onondaga Environmental 

11 Institute; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) other members as the Onondaga 

13 Lake Watershed Council determines appro14 priate. 

15 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—The Onondaga Lake Sci16 entific Center shall submit to the Onondaga Lake 

17 Watershed Council an annual report— 

18 ‘‘(A) assessing the effectiveness of the 

19 strategies recommended under subsection (c)(2) 

20 in accomplishing the goals identified under sub21 section (c)(1); 

22 ‘‘(B) recommending changes to manage23 ment and activities of the integrated scientific 

24 and engineering program to accomplish the 

25 goals identified under subsection (c)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) recommending means for implementa2 tion of such changes. 

3 ‘‘(e) GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con5 sultation with the Onondaga Lake Watershed Coun6 cil, may make grants to the State of New York, the 

7 City of Syracuse, New York, Onondaga County, New 

8 York, and the Onondaga Environmental Institute— 

9 ‘‘(A) to implement the strategies rec10 ommended under section (c)(2); 

11 ‘‘(B) for research, surveys, administrative 

12 services, studies and elements of the integrated 

13 scientific program; and 

14 ‘‘(C) to gather data necessary to carry out 

15 the objectives of this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—As a condition of receiving 

17 a grant under this subsection, the Onondaga Envi18 ronmental Institute shall provide administrative 

19 services for the development and implementation of 

20 the Onondaga Lake Science Center and the Adaptive 

21 Management Plan. 

22 ‘‘(3) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal 

24 share of the cost of an activity carried out with 


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1 a grant under this subsection may not exceed 

2 35 percent of the cost of such activity. 

3 ‘‘(B) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTION.—The non4 Federal share required under this paragraph 

5 shall be provided from non-Federal sources, and 

6 may be satisfied through the provision of in7 kind services. 

8 ‘‘(4) NO RELIEF FROM LIABILITY.—Grants 

9 made under this subsection shall not relieve from li10 ability any person that would otherwise be liable 

11 under Federal or State law for damages, response 

12 costs, natural resource damages, restitution, equi13 table relief, or any other relief. 

14 ‘‘(f) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL OR STATE

16 LAW.—This section shall not be construed to alter, 

17 modify, or otherwise affect any other provision of 

18 Federal or State law or any responsibility assigned 

19 thereunder, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) this Act; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a provision of law (including a provi22 sion of the Comprehensive Environmental Re23 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

24 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) or the New York 

25 State Environmental Conservation Law) that 


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1 requires, and assigns responsibility for, the per2 formance of cleanup activities (including re3 sponse and removal activities) or other activities 

4 affecting the restoration or conservation of On5 ondaga Lake. 

6 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING LIABILITIES.— 

7 This section shall not be construed to create or en8 large any liability that any party may have for nat9 ural resource damages under any provision of law. 

10 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) AMENDED CONSENT JUDGMENT.—The 

12 term ‘Amended Consent Judgment’ means the 

13 Amended Consent Judgment entered January 20, 

14 1998, in the case of Atlantic States Legal 

15 Foundation‘ v. ’The Onondaga County Department 

16 of Drainage and Sanitation, Civil Action No. 88– 

17 CV–0066, in the United States District Court for 

18 the Northern District of New York, as amended. 

19 ‘‘(2) ONONDAGA ENVIRONMENTAL INSTI20 TUTE.—The term ‘Onondaga Environmental Insti21 tute’ means the not-for-profit corporation established 

22 pursuant to section 401(d)(1) of the Great Lakes 

23 Critical Programs Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 3010) and 

24 section 411(d)(1) of the Water Resources Develop25 ment Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 4648). 


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1 ‘‘(3) ONONDAGA LAKE.—The term ‘Onondaga 

2 Lake’ means Onondaga Lake, New York and its wa3 tershed and tributaries. 

4 ‘‘(4) ONONDAGA LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

5 The term ‘Onondaga Lake Management Plan’ 

6 means the plan— 

7 ‘‘(A) developed pursuant to section 

8 401(a)(1) of the Great Lakes Critical Programs 

9 Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 3010) and 411(a)(1) of 

10 the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 

11 (104 Stat. 4648); 

12 ‘‘(B) modified by the Amended Consent 

13 Judgment; and 

14 ‘‘(C) revised under section 573(c)(1) of the 

15 Water Resources Development Act of 1999 

16 (113 Stat. 372), as in effect on the day before 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

20 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this 

21 section $10,000,000 each fiscal year, to remain 

22 available until expended. 

23 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Ad24 ministrator may use amounts made available under 


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1 paragraph (1) for administrative expenses associated 

2 with carrying out this section.’’. 

3 (b) WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT OF

4 1999.—Section 573 of the Water Resources Development 

5 Act of 1999 (113 Stat. 372) is repealed. Such section 573, 

6 as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act, shall continue to apply to amounts appro8 priated before such date and made available to carry out 

9 such section. 

Æ 


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