II 

Calendar No. 284 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1500 

[Report No. 114–160] 

To clarify Congressional intent regarding the regulation of the use of 

pesticides in or near navigable waters, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2015 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

CARPER, Mr. COONS, Mr. DONNELLY, Mr. ENZI, Mrs. FISCHER, Ms. 

HEITKAMP, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. 

TILLIS, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

OCTOBER 29, 2015 

Reported by Mr. INHOFE, without amendment 

A BILL 

To clarify Congressional intent regarding the regulation of 

the use of pesticides in or near navigable waters, 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 ‘‘Sensible Environ3 mental Protection Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. USE OF AUTHORIZED PESTICIDES; DISCHARGES OF 

5 PESTICIDES; REPORT. 

6 (a) USE OF AUTHORIZED PESTICIDES.—Section 3(f) 

7 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 

8 (7 U.S.C. 136a(f)) is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(5) USE OF AUTHORIZED PESTICIDES.—Ex11 cept as provided in section 402(s) of the Federal 

12 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342), the 

13 Administrator or a State shall not require a permit 

14 under that Act for a discharge from a point source 

15 into navigable waters of— 

16 ‘‘(A) a pesticide authorized for sale, dis17 tribution, or use under this Act; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the residue of the pesticide, resulting 

19 from the application of the pesticide.’’. 

20 (b) DISCHARGES OF PESTICIDES.—Section 402 of 

21 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(s) DISCHARGES OF PESTICIDES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) NO PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—Except as 

25 provided in paragraph (2), a permit shall not be re26 quired by the Administrator or a State under this 


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1 Act for a discharge from a point source into navi2 gable waters of— 

3 ‘‘(A) a pesticide authorized for sale, dis4 tribution, or use under the Federal Insecticide, 

5 Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 

6 et seq.); or 

7 ‘‘(B) the residue of the pesticide, resulting 

8 from the application of the pesticide. 

9 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

10 apply to the following discharges of a pesticide or 

11 pesticide residue: 

12 ‘‘(A) A discharge resulting from the appli13 cation of a pesticide in violation of a provision 

14 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

15 Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.) relevant 

16 to protecting water quality if— 

17 ‘‘(i) the discharge would not have oc18 curred without the violation; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the amount of pesticide or pes20 ticide residue in the discharge is greater 

21 than would have occurred without the vio22 lation. 

23 ‘‘(B) Stormwater discharges subject to reg24 ulation under subsection (p). 


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1 ‘‘(C) The following discharges subject to 

2 regulation under this section: 

3 ‘‘(i) Manufacturing or industrial efflu4 ent. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Treatment works effluent. 

6 ‘‘(iii) Discharges incidental to the nor7 mal operation of a vessel, including a dis8 charge resulting from ballasting operations 

9 or vessel biofouling prevention.’’. 

10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Envi12 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the 

13 Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit a report to the Com14 mittee on Environment and Public Works and the Com15 mittee on Agriculture of the Senate and the Committee 

16 on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee 

17 on Agriculture of the House of Representatives that in18 cludes— 

19 (1) the status of intra-agency coordination be20 tween the Office of Water and the Office of Pes21 ticide Programs of the Environmental Protection 

22 Agency regarding streamlining information collec23 tion, standards of review, and data use relating to 

24 water quality impacts from the registration and use 

25 of pesticides; 


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1 (2) an analysis of the effectiveness of current 

2 regulatory actions relating to pesticide registration 

3 and use aimed at protecting water quality; and 

4 (3) any recommendations on how the Federal 

5 Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 

6 U.S.C. 136 et seq.) can be modified to better protect 

7 water quality and human health. 


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Calendar No. 284 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1500 

[Report No. 114–160] 

A BILL 

To clarify Congressional intent regarding the regugable waters, and for other purposes. lation of the use of pesticides in or near naviOCTOBER 29, 2015 

Reported without amendment 


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