II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2756

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a National

Clean Water Trust Fund and to authorize the Administrator of the

Environmental Protection Agency to use amounts in the Fund to carry

out projects to promote the recovery of waters of the United States

from damage resulting from violations of that Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 20, 2000

Mr. ROBB 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 establish a National Clean Water Trust Fund and to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

Agency to use amounts in the Fund to carry out projects

to promote the recovery of waters of the United States

from damage resulting from violations of that Act, 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 ‘‘National Clean Water

3 Trust Fund Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.

5 Section 309 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

6 Act (33 U.S.C. 1319) is amended by adding at the end

7 the following:

8 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.—

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

10 the Treasury a National Clean Water Trust Fund

11 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Fund’) con12 sisting of amounts transferred to the Fund under

13 paragraph (2) and amounts credited to the Fund

14 under paragraph (3).

15 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS.—For fiscal year

16 2001, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary

17 of the Treasury shall transfer to the Fund an

18 amount determined by the Secretary to be equal to

19 the total amount deposited in the general fund of

20 the Treasury in the preceding fiscal year from fines,

21 penalties, and other funds obtained through judg22 ments from courts of the United States for enforce23 ment actions conducted under this section and sec24 tion 505(a)(1), excluding any amounts ordered to be

25 used to carry out mitigation projects under this sec26 tion or section 505(a).
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1 ‘‘(3) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the

3 Treasury shall invest in interest-bearing obliga4 tions of the United States such portion of the

5 Fund as is not, in the Secretary’s judgment, re6 quired to meet current withdrawals.

7 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—The obligations

8 shall be acquired and sold and interest on, and

9 the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, the

10 obligations shall be credited to the Fund in ac11 cordance with section 9602 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986.

13 ‘‘(4) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR REMEDIAL

14 PROJECTS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (B), amounts in the Fund shall be avail17 able, as provided in appropriations Acts, to the

18 Administrator to carry out projects to restore

19 and recover waters of the United States from

20 damage resulting from violations of this Act

21 that are subject to enforcement actions under

22 this section or from the discharge of pollutants

23 into the waters of the United States,

24 including—
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1 ‘‘(i) soil and water conservation

2 projects;

3 ‘‘(ii) wetland restoration projects; and

4 ‘‘(iii) such other similar projects as

5 the Administrator determines to be appro6 priate.

7 ‘‘(B) CONDITION FOR USE OF FUNDS.—

8 Amounts in the Fund shall be available under

9 subparagraph (A) only for a project conducted

10 in the watershed, or in a watershed adjacent to

11 the watershed, in which a violation of this Act

12 described in subparagraph (A) results in the in13 stitution of an enforcement action.

14 ‘‘(5) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—

15 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—In selecting projects to

16 carry out under this subsection, the Adminis17 trator shall give priority to a project described

18 in paragraph (4) that is located in the water19 shed, or in a watershed adjacent to the water20 shed, in which there occurred a violation under

21 this Act for which an enforcement action was

22 brought that resulted in the payment of any

23 amount into the general fund of the Treasury.

24 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION WITH STATES.—In

25 selecting a project to carry out under this sec-
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1 tion, the Administrator shall consult with the

2 State in which the Administrator is considering

3 carrying out the project.

4 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS.—In de5 termining an amount to allocate to carry out a

6 project to restore and recover waters of the

7 United States from damage described in para8 graph (4), the Administrator shall, in the case

9 of a priority project described in subparagraph

10 (A), take into account the total amount depos11 ited in the general fund of the Treasury as a

12 result of enforcement actions conducted with re13 spect to the violation under this section or sec14 tion 505(a)(1).

15 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator

16 may carry out a project under this subsection di17 rectly or by making grants to, or entering into con18 tracts with, another Federal agency, a State agency,

19 a political subdivision of a State, or any other public

20 or private entity.

21 ‘‘(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1

22 year after the date of the enactment of this sub23 section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Adminis24 trator shall submit to Congress a report on imple25 mentation of this subsection.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. USE OF CIVIL PENALTIES FOR MITIGATION

2 PROJECTS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d) of the Federal

4 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1319(d)) is

5 amended by inserting after the second sentence the fol6 lowing: ‘‘The court may order that a civil penalty be used

7 for carrying out mitigation, restoration, or other projects

8 that are consistent with the purposes of this Act and that

9 enhance public health or the environment.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 505(a) of

11 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.

12 1365(a)) is amended in the last sentence by inserting be13 fore the period at the end the following: ‘‘, including order14 ing the use of a civil penalty for carrying out mitigation,

15 restoration, or other projects in accordance with section

16 309(d)’’.

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