I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4029 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 

for programs and activities to protect the water quality of Puget Sound, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2009 

Mr. DICKS (for himself, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LARSEN

of Washington, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. INSLEE, and Mr. REICHERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance for programs and activities to protect 

the water quality of Puget Sound, 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 ‘‘Puget Sound Recovery 

5 Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PUGET SOUND. 

2 Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

3 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 123. PUGET SOUND. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

7 definitions apply: 

8 ‘‘(1) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.—The term ‘com9 prehensive plan’ means the Puget Sound Action 

10 Agenda (the comprehensive conservation and man11 agement plan for Puget Sound under section 320), 

12 including any amendments thereto. 

13 ‘‘(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 

14 Puget Sound Program Advisory Council established 

15 under subsection (d). 

16 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

17 the Director of the Office. 

18 ‘‘(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the 

19 Puget Sound Program Office established by sub20 section (b). 

21 ‘‘(5) PUGET SOUND PARTNERSHIP.—The term 

22 ‘Puget Sound Partnership’ means the agency of the 

23 State of Washington (together with its associated 

24 councils, boards, and panels) that was formed under 

25 authority of State law for the purpose of protecting 

26 and restoring Puget Sound and is designated as the 


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1 management conference for Puget Sound under sec2 tion 320. 

3 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM OFFICE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

5 shall establish in the Environmental Protection 

6 Agency a Puget Sound Program Office. The Office 

7 shall be co-located with the Puget Sound Partner8 ship in the State of Washington. 

9 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR.—The Ad10 ministrator shall appoint a Director of the Office, 

11 who, by reason of management experience and tech12 nical expertise relating to Puget Sound, shall be 

13 highly qualified to support the development and im14 plementation of projects, programs, and studies nec15 essary to implement the comprehensive plan. 

16 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY; STAFFING.— 

17 The Administrator shall delegate to the Director 

18 such authority and provide such additional staff as 

19 may be necessary to carry out this section. 

20 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec22 tion, the Administrator, acting through the Director, 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) assist and support the implementa25 tion of the comprehensive plan; 


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1 ‘‘(B) provide funding and make grants for 

2 implementation of the comprehensive plan and 

3 projects, programs, and studies consistent with 

4 the priorities of the comprehensive plan; 

5 ‘‘(C) promote innovative methodologies and 

6 technologies that are cost-effective and con7 sistent with the identified goals and objectives 

8 of the comprehensive plan and Environmental 

9 Protection Agency permitting processes; 

10 ‘‘(D) coordinate the major functions of the 

11 Federal Government related to the implementa12 tion of the comprehensive plan, including 

13 projects, programs, and studies for— 

14 ‘‘(i) water quality improvements; 

15 ‘‘(ii) wetland, riverine, and estuary 

16 restoration and protection; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) nearshore and endangered spe18 cies recovery; 

19 ‘‘(E) coordinate the research and planning 

20 projects authorized under this section with Fed21 eral agencies, State agencies, tribes, univer22 sities, and the Puget Sound Partnership’s 

23 Science Panel, including conducting or commis24 sioning studies considered necessary by the 


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1 Science Panel for strengthened implementation 

2 of the comprehensive plan; 

3 ‘‘(F) track progress towards meeting the 

4 identified goals and objectives of the com5 prehensive plan by— 

6 ‘‘(i) implementing and supporting a 

7 project, program, and study monitoring 

8 system consistent with the performance 

9 management system used by the Puget 

10 Sound Partnership; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) coordinating, managing, and re12 porting environmental data related to 

13 Puget Sound in a manner consistent with 

14 methodologies utilized by the Puget Sound 

15 Partnership, including, to the extent prac16 ticable, making such data and reports on 

17 such data available to the public, including 

18 on the Internet, in a timely fashion; 

19 ‘‘(G) coordinate projects, programs, and 

20 studies for the protection of Puget Sound, the 

21 Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de 

22 Fuca with Canadian authorities; and 

23 ‘‘(H) collect and make available to the 

24 public, including on the Internet, publications 


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1 and other forms of information relating to the 

2 environmental quality of Puget Sound. 

3 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION METHODS.—The Ad4 ministrator, acting through the Director, may enter 

5 into interagency agreements, make intergovern6 mental personnel appointments, provide funding, 

7 make grants, and utilize other available methods in 

8 carrying out the duties under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(d) PUGET SOUND PROGRAM ADVISORY COUN10 CIL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es12 tablish a Puget Sound Program Advisory Council to 

13 provide advice to the Administrator on the imple14 mentation of the identified goals and objectives of 

15 the comprehensive plan. 

16 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall consist 

17 of the following 2 boards: 

18 ‘‘(A) A Federal agency board consisting of 

19 representatives of appropriate Federal agencies 

20 that may affect or implement projects or pro21 grams identified in the comprehensive plan and 

22 the Executive Director of the Puget Sound 

23 Partnership. The chairperson of the Federal 

24 agency board shall be the Director. 


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1 ‘‘(B) An intergovernmental board con2 sisting of the members of the Leadership Coun3 cil and the Ecosystem Coordination Board of 

4 the Puget Sound Partnership. 

5 ‘‘(3) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at 

6 least twice per year— 

7 ‘‘(A) to assess the progress of the Office in 

8 meeting the identified goals and objectives of 

9 the comprehensive plan; 

10 ‘‘(B) to identify improvements for meeting 

11 the identified goals and objectives of the com12 prehensive plan; and 

13 ‘‘(C) to assess Federal agency budget 

14 needs to implement the comprehensive plan. 

15 ‘‘(4) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—A member 

16 of the Council shall serve without compensation. 

17 ‘‘(5) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Subject to the avail18 ability of appropriations, the Administrator shall re19 imburse a member of the Council for travel ex20 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at 

21 rates authorized for an employee of a Federal agen22 cy under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

23 United States Code, while away from home or the 

24 regular place of business of the member in perform25 ance of services for the Council. 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

2 of enactment of this section, and biennially thereafter, the 

3 Administrator and the Executive Director of the Puget 

4 Sound Partnership, acting jointly, shall submit to Con5 gress a report that— 

6 ‘‘(1) summarizes the progress made in imple7 menting the comprehensive plan and progress to8 wards achieving the identified goals and objectives 

9 described in the comprehensive plan; 

10 ‘‘(2) summarizes any modifications to the com11 prehensive plan made in the period immediately pre12 ceding such report; 

13 ‘‘(3) incorporates specific recommendations con14 cerning the implementation of the comprehensive 

15 plan; and 

16 ‘‘(4) summarizes the roles and progress of each 

17 Federal agency that has jurisdiction in the Puget 

18 Sound watershed towards meeting the identified 

19 goals and objectives of the comprehensive plan. 

20 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, acting 

22 through the Director and in consultation with the 

23 Puget Sound Partnership, shall carry out projects, 

24 programs, and studies to implement the comprehen25 sive plan. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY PROJECTS, PROGRAMS, AND

2 STUDIES.—The Administrator shall give special em3 phasis to projects, programs, and studies that are 

4 identified as priorities by the Puget Sound Partner5 ship in the comprehensive plan. 

6 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

8 acting through the Director, is authorized to 

9 make grants for projects, programs, and studies 

10 to implement the comprehensive plan. 

11 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS.—In making grants 

12 under this paragraph, the Administrator shall 

13 use— 

14 ‘‘(i) 50 percent of the funds appro15 priated for making grants under this para16 graph for a fiscal year to make a com17 prehensive grant to the Puget Sound Part18 nership to manage implementation of the 

19 comprehensive plan and for allocation by 

20 the Puget Sound Partnership to projects, 

21 programs, and studies prioritized in the 

22 comprehensive plan; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent of funds appropriated 

24 for making grants under this paragraph 

25 for a fiscal year to make grants to State 


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1 and regional water pollution control agen2 cies and entities, federally recognized In3 dian tribes, State coastal zone manage4 ment agencies, local governments, and 

5 other public or nonprofit private agencies, 

6 institutions, or organizations to implement 

7 specific projects, programs, and studies 

8 identified in the comprehensive plan. 

9 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

11 the cost of a project, program, or study carried 

12 out under this subsection shall be— 

13 ‘‘(i) not more than 50 percent of the 

14 cost of a project, program or study; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) up to 100 percent of the cost of 

16 a project, program, or study if the project, 

17 program, or study is located in or specifi18 cally affects a distressed community. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONTRIBUTIONS FROM NON-FEDERAL

20 SOURCES.—The non-Federal share of costs re21 quired under subparagraph (A) shall be pro22 vided from non-Federal sources. 

23 ‘‘(5) DISTRESSED COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In 

24 this subsection, the term ‘distressed community’ 

25 means a community that meets the affordability criVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:08 Nov 06, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4029.IH H4029

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1 teria established by the State in which the commu2 nity is located, if such criteria is established after 

3 public review and comment. 

4 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL BUDGET PLAN.—The President, as 

5 part of the annual budget of the United States Govern6 ment, shall submit information regarding each Federal 

7 agency involved in Puget Sound protection and restora8 tion, including— 

9 ‘‘(1) an interagency crosscut budget that dis10 plays for each Federal agency— 

11 ‘‘(A) the amounts obligated in the pre12 ceding fiscal year for protection and restoration 

13 projects, programs, and studies relating to 

14 Puget Sound; 

15 ‘‘(B) the estimated budget for the current 

16 fiscal year for protection and restoration 

17 projects, programs, and studies relating to 

18 Puget Sound; and 

19 ‘‘(C) the proposed budget for protection 

20 and restoration projects, programs, and studies 

21 relating to Puget Sound; and 

22 ‘‘(2) a description and assessment of the Fed23 eral role in the implementation of the comprehensive 

24 plan and the specific role of each Federal agency in25 volved in Puget Sound protection and restoration, 


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1 including specific projects, programs, and studies 

2 conducted or planned to achieve the identified goals 

3 and objectives of the comprehensive plan. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

6 carry out this section $125,000,000 for each of fiscal 

7 years 2011 through 2016. Such sums shall remain avail8 able until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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