II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1491 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 

for nutrient removal technologies to States in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2005 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, Mr. ALLEN, and 

Mr. SANTORUM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance for nutrient removal technologies to 

States in the Chesapeake Bay 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 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Wa5 tershed Nutrient Removal Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) nutrient pollution from point sources and 

9 nonpoint sources continues to be the most signifi-
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1 cant water quality problem in the Chesapeake Bay 

2 watershed; 

3 (2) a key commitment of the Chesapeake 2000 

4 agreement, an interstate agreement among the Ad5 ministrator, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the 

6 District of Columbia, and the States of Maryland, 

7 Virginia, and Pennsylvania, is to achieve the goal of 

8 correcting the nutrient-related problems in the 

9 Chesapeake Bay by 2010; 

10 (3) by correcting those problems, the Chesa11 peake Bay and its tidal tributaries may be removed 

12 from the list of impaired bodies of water designated 

13 by the Administrator of the Environmental Protec14 tion Agency under section 303(d) of the Federal 

15 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(d)); 

16 (4) more than 300 major sewage treatment 

17 plants located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed an18 nually discharge approximately 60,000,000 pounds 

19 of nitrogen, or the equivalent of 20 percent of the 

20 total nitrogen load, into the Chesapeake Bay; and 

21 (5) nutrient removal technology is 1 of the most 

22 reliable, cost-effective, and direct methods for reduc23 ing the flow of nitrogen from point sources into the 

24 Chesapeake Bay. 

25 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
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1 (1) to authorize the Administrator of the Envi2 ronmental Protection Agency to provide financial as3 sistance to States and municipalities for use in up4 grading publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants 

5 in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with nutrient re6 moval technologies; and 

7 (2) to further the goal of restoring the water 

8 quality of the Chesapeake Bay to conditions that are 

9 protective of human health and aquatic living re10 sources. 

11 SEC. 3. SEWAGE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

13 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

16 ‘‘SEC. 701. SEWAGE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PRO17 GRAM. 

18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—In this 

19 section, the term ‘eligible facility’ means a municipal 

20 wastewater treatment plant that— 

21 ‘‘(1) as of the date of enactment of this title, 

22 has a permitted design capacity to treat an annual 

23 average of at least 500,000 gallons of wastewater 

24 per day; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) is located within the Chesapeake Bay wa2 tershed in any of the States of Delaware, Maryland, 

3 New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia 

4 or in the District of Columbia. 

5 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

7 after the date of enactment of this title, the Admin8 istrator shall establish a program within the Envi9 ronmental Protection Agency to provide grants to 

10 States and municipalities to upgrade eligible facili11 ties with nutrient removal technologies. 

12 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing a grant under 

13 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) consult with the Chesapeake Bay 

15 Program Office; 

16 ‘‘(B) give priority to eligible facilities at 

17 which nutrient removal upgrades would— 

18 ‘‘(i) produce the greatest nutrient load 

19 reductions at points of discharge; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) result in the greatest environ21 mental benefits to local bodies of water 

22 surrounding, and the main stem of, the 

23 Chesapeake Bay; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) take into consideration the geo25 graphic distribution of the grants. 
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1 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of an ap3 plication from a State or municipality for a 

4 grant under this section, if the Administrator 

5 approves the request, the Administrator shall 

6 transfer to the State or municipality the 

7 amount of assistance requested. 

8 ‘‘(B) FORM.—An application submitted by 

9 a State or municipality under subparagraph (A) 

10 shall be in such form and shall include such in11 formation as the Administrator may prescribe. 

12 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or municipality 

13 that receives a grant under this section shall use the 

14 grant to upgrade eligible facilities with nutrient re15 moval technologies that are designed to reduce total 

16 nitrogen in discharged wastewater to an average an17 nual concentration of 3 milligrams per liter. 

18 ‘‘(5) COST SHARING.— 

19 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

20 share of the cost of upgrading any eligible facil21 ity as described in paragraph (1) using funds 

22 provided under this section shall not exceed 55 

23 percent. 

24 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non25 Federal share of the costs of upgrading any eli-
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1 gible facility as described in paragraph (1) 

2 using funds provided under this section may be 

3 provided in the form of funds made available to 

4 a State or municipality under— 

5 ‘‘(i) any provision of this Act other 

6 than this section (including funds made 

7 available from a State revolving fund es8 tablished under title VI); or 

9 ‘‘(ii) any other Federal or State law. 

10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

12 appropriated to carry out this section $132,000,000 

13 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to re14 main available until expended. 

15 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Adminis16 trator may use not to exceed 4 percent of any 

17 amount made available under paragraph (1) to pay 

18 administrative costs incurred in carrying out this 

19 section.’’. 

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