II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 914

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require that discharges

from combined storm and sanitary sewers conform to the Combined

Sewer Overflow Control Policy of the Environmental Protection Agency,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 29, 1999

Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. WARNER, Mr.

VOINOVICH, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. ROBB, Mr. HAGEL, and

Mr. LUGAR), 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 require

that discharges from combined storm and sanitary sewers

conform to the Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy

of the Environmental Protection Agency, 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 ‘‘Combined Sewer Over5 flow Control and Partnership Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS.

2 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

3 Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following:

5 ‘‘(q) COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS.—

6 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT FOR PERMITS, ORDERS,

7 AND DECREES.—Each permit, order, or decree

8 issued under this Act for a discharge from a com9 bined storm and sanitary sewer shall conform to the

10 Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy signed by

11 the Administrator on April 11, 1994.

12 ‘‘(2) TERM OF PERMIT, ORDER, OR DECREE.—

13 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE.—Notwith14 standing any schedule for compliance author15 ized by section 301(b), or any permit limitation

16 authorized by subsection (b)(1)(B) of this sec17 tion, the Administrator or the State (in the case

18 of a State with a program approved under sub19 section (b)) may issue or execute a permit,

20 order, or decree consistent with this section for

21 a discharge from a combined storm and sani22 tary sewer.

23 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE FOR COMPLIANCE.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A permit, order,

25 or decree issued under subparagraph (A)

26 shall include a schedule for compliance,
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1 within a period not to exceed 15 years,

2 with a long-term control plan under the

3 Control Policy referred to in paragraph

4 (1).

5 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding

6 clause (i), a compliance schedule of longer

7 than 15 years may be granted if the owner

8 or operator demonstrates to the satisfac9 tion of the Administrator or the State, as

10 appropriate, reasonable further progress

11 towards compliance with a long-term plan

12 under the Control Policy and if the Admin13 istrator or the State, as appropriate, deter14 mines that—

15 ‘‘(I) compliance within 15 years

16 is not within the economic capability

17 of the owner or operator; or

18 ‘‘(II) a longer period is otherwise

19 appropriate.

20 ‘‘(3) WATER QUALITY STANDARDS-DESIGNATED

21 USE REVIEW.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No permit, order, or

23 decree issued under this Act should require

24 compliance with water quality-based require25 ments contained in a long-term control plan
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1 under the Control Policy referred to in para2 graph (1) unless the Administrator or the

3 State, as appropriate, has completed the water

4 quality standards-designated use review process

5 called for in the Control Policy, including the

6 adoption of any refinements needed—

7 ‘‘(i) to reflect the site-specific wet

8 weather impact of combined sewer over9 flows; and

10 ‘‘(ii) to ensure that the long-term con11 trol plan provides for cost-effective compli12 ance with water quality standards.

13 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF WATERSHED.—Con14 sideration shall be given to conducting these re15 views on a watershed basis where appropriate.

16 ‘‘(C) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in

17 this subsection affects the authority to conduct

18 or scheduling of water quality standard reviews

19 required under section 303(c).

20 ‘‘(4) GUIDANCE.—Not later than March 15,

21 2000, the Administrator shall develop and publish

22 for implementation by the States and by regions of

23 the Environmental Protection Agency, the guidance

24 document recommended by H. Rept. No. 105–769 at
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1 280 (1998) (conference report on H.R. 4194), to fa2 cilitate water quality and designated use reviews.

3 ‘‘(5) GRANTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator

5 may make grants to any municipality or munic6 ipal entity for planning, design, and construc7 tion of facilities to intercept, transport, control,

8 or treat combined storm and sanitary sewer

9 flows.

10 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL SHARE.—

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share

12 of the cost of activities carried out using

13 amounts from a grant made under sub14 paragraph (A) shall be at least 55 percent

15 of the cost as determined by the Adminis16 trator.

17 ‘‘(ii) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The

18 non-Federal share of the cost may include,

19 in any amount, public and private funds

20 and in-kind services.

21 ‘‘(C) REPORTS.—Not later than January

22 1, 2004, and once every 2 years thereafter, the

23 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report

24 containing recommended funding levels for the

25 2 fiscal years following the date of the report
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1 for activities relating to combined storm and

2 sanitary sewer flows described in subparagraph

3 (A).

4 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA5 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this paragraph, to remain

7 available until expended—

8 ‘‘(i) $500,000,000 for fiscal year

9 2000;

10 ‘‘(ii) $750,000,000 for fiscal year

11 2001; and

12 ‘‘(iii) $1,000,000,000 for each of fis13 cal years 2002 through 2004.’’.

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