112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2018 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to preserve the authority of each State to make determinations 

relating to the State’s water quality standards, 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 ‘‘Clean Water Coopera3 tive Federalism Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS. 

5 (a) STATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.—Section 

6 303(c)(4) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 1313(c)(4)) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

9 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4)(A)’’; 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘The Administrator shall pro12 mulgate’’ and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(B) The Administrator shall promulgate’’; and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A)(ii), the Ad16 ministrator may not promulgate a revised or new standard 

17 for a pollutant in any case in which the State has sub18 mitted to the Administrator and the Administrator has ap19 proved a water quality standard for that pollutant, unless 

20 the State concurs with the Administrator’s determination 

21 that the revised or new standard is necessary to meet the 

22 requirements of this Act.’’. 

23 (b) FEDERAL LICENSES AND PERMITS.—Section 

24 401(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1341(a)) is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(7) With respect to any discharge, if a State or 

2 interstate agency having jurisdiction over the navigable 

3 waters at the point where the discharge originates or will 

4 originate determines under paragraph (1) that the dis5 charge will comply with the applicable provisions of sec6 tions 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307, the Administrator may 

7 not take any action to supersede the determination.’’. 

8 (c) STATE NPDES PERMIT PROGRAMS.—Section 

9 402(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1342(c)) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF ADMINIS12 TRATOR TO WITHDRAW APPROVAL OF STATE PRO13 GRAMS.—The Administrator may not withdraw ap14 proval of a State program under paragraph (3) or 

15 (4), or limit Federal financial assistance for the 

16 State program, on the basis that the Administrator 

17 disagrees with the State regarding— 

18 ‘‘(A) the implementation of any water 

19 quality standard that has been adopted by the 

20 State and approved by the Administrator under 

21 section 303(c); or 

22 ‘‘(B) the implementation of any Federal 

23 guidance that directs the interpretation of the 

24 State’s water quality standards.’’. 
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1 (d) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR

2 TO OBJECT TO INDIVIDUAL PERMITS.—Section 402(d) of 

3 such Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(d)) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) The Administrator may not object under para6 graph (2) to the issuance of a permit by a State on the 

7 basis of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the Administrator’s interpretation of a 

9 water quality standard that has been adopted by the 

10 State and approved by the Administrator under sec11 tion 303(c); or 

12 ‘‘(B) the implementation of any Federal guid13 ance that directs the interpretation of the State’s 

14 water quality standards.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY OF EPA ADMINISTRATOR.—Section 

17 404(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

18 U.S.C. 1344(c)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(1)’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any permit if 

23 the State in which the discharge originates or will origi24 nate does not concur with the Administrator’s determina-
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1 tion that the discharge will result in an unacceptable ad2 verse effect as described in paragraph (1).’’. 

3 (b) STATE PERMIT PROGRAMS.—The first sentence 

4 of section 404(g)(1) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(g)(1)) 

5 is amended by striking ‘‘The Governor of any State desir6 ing to administer its own individual and general permit 

7 program for the discharge’’ and inserting ‘‘The Governor 

8 of any State desiring to administer its own individual and 

9 general permit program for some or all of the discharges’’. 

10 SEC. 4. DEADLINES FOR AGENCY COMMENTS. 

11 Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

12 Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (m) by striking ‘‘ninetieth 

14 day’’ and inserting ‘‘30th day (or the 60th day if ad15 ditional time is requested)’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (q)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘(q)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘(q)(1)’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) The Administrator and the head of a depart21 ment or agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall each 

22 submit any comments with respect to an application for 

23 a permit under subsection (a) or (e) not later than the 

24 30th day (or the 60th day if additional time is requested) 
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1 after the date of receipt of an application for a permit 

2 under that subsection.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY OF AMENDMENTS. 

4 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to ac5 tions taken on or after the date of enactment of this Act, 

6 including actions taken with respect to permit applications 

7 that are pending or revised or new standards that are 

8 being promulgated as of such date of enactment. 

9 SEC. 6. REPORTING ON HARMFUL POLLUTANTS. 

10 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of 

12 the Environmental Protection Agency shall submit to Con13 gress a report on any increase or reduction in waterborne 

14 pathogenic microorganisms (including protozoa, viruses, 

15 bacteria, and parasites), toxic chemicals, or toxic metals 

16 (such as lead and mercury) in waters regulated by a State 

17 under the provisions of this Act, including the amend18 ments made by this Act. 

19 SEC. 7. PIPELINES CROSSING STREAMBEDS. 

20 None of the provisions of this Act, including the 

21 amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to limit 

22 the authority of the Administrator of the Environmental 

23 Protection Agency, as in effect on the day before the date 

24 of enactment of this Act, to regulate a pipeline that 

25 crosses a streambed. 
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1 SEC. 8. IMPACTS OF EPA REGULATORY ACTIVITY ON EM2 PLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. 

3 (a) ANALYSIS OF IMPACTS OF ACTIONS ON EMPLOY4 MENT AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.— 

5 (1) ANALYSIS.—Before taking a covered action, 

6 the Administrator shall analyze the impact, 

7 disaggregated by State, of the covered action on em8 ployment levels and economic activity, including esti9 mated job losses and decreased economic activity. 

10 (2) ECONOMIC MODELS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para12 graph (1), the Administrator shall utilize the 

13 best available economic models. 

14 (B) ANNUAL GAO REPORT.—Not later 

15 than December 31st of each year, the Comp16 troller General of the United States shall sub17 mit to Congress a report on the economic mod18 els used by the Administrator to carry out this 

19 subsection. 

20 (3) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—With re21 spect to any covered action, the Administrator 

22 shall— 

23 (A) post the analysis under paragraph (1) 

24 as a link on the main page of the public Inter25 net Web site of the Environmental Protection 

26 Agency; and 
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1 (B) request that the Governor of any State 

2 experiencing more than a de minimis negative 

3 impact post such analysis in the Capitol of such 

4 State. 

5 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator con7 cludes under subsection (a)(1) that a covered action 

8 will have more than a de minimis negative impact on 

9 employment levels or economic activity in a State, 

10 the Administrator shall hold a public hearing in each 

11 such State at least 30 days prior to the effective 

12 date of the covered action. 

13 (2) TIME, LOCATION, AND SELECTION.—A pub14 lic hearing required under paragraph (1) shall be 

15 held at a convenient time and location for impacted 

16 residents. In selecting a location for such a public 

17 hearing, the Administrator shall give priority to loca18 tions in the State that will experience the greatest 

19 number of job losses. 

20 (c) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator concludes 

21 under subsection (a)(1) that a covered action will have 

22 more than a de minimis negative impact on employment 

23 levels or economic activity in any State, the Administrator 

24 shall give notice of such impact to the State’s Congres-
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1 sional delegation, Governor, and Legislature at least 45 

2 days before the effective date of the covered action. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi4 nitions apply: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ7 mental Protection Agency. 

8 (2) COVERED ACTION.—The term ‘‘covered ac9 tion’’ means any of the following actions taken by 

10 the Administrator under the Federal Water Pollu11 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.): 

12 (A) Issuing a regulation, policy statement, 

13 guidance, response to a petition, or other re14 quirement. 

15 (B) Implementing a new or substantially 

16 altered program. 

17 (3) MORE THAN A DE MINIMIS NEGATIVE IM18 PACT.—The term ‘‘more than a de minimis negative 

19 impact’’ means the following: 

20 (A) With respect to employment levels, a 

21 loss of more than 100 jobs. Any offsetting job 

22 gains that result from the hypothetical creation 

23 of new jobs through new technologies or govern24 ment employment may not be used in the job 

25 loss calculation. 
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1 (B) With respect to economic activity, a 

2 decrease in economic activity of more than 

3 $1,000,000 over any calendar year. Any offset4 ting economic activity that results from the hy5 pothetical creation of new economic activity 

6 through new technologies or government em7 ployment may not be used in the economic ac8 tivity calculation. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 13, 2011. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2018 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

ity standards, and for other purposes. determinations relating to the State’s water qualto preserve the authority of each State to make