II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3605 

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 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012 

Mrs. HAGAN (for herself, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CARPER, Mr. VITTER, Mr. COONS, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. PRYOR, and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Effective 

5 Environmental Protection Act of 2012’’. 

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

7 PESTICIDES; REPORT. 

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

9 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 


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1 (7 U.S.C. 136a(f)) is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(5) USE OF AUTHORIZED PESTICIDES.—Ex4 cept as provided in section 402(s) of the Federal 

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

6 Administrator or a State shall not require a permit 

7 under that Act for a discharge from a point source 

8 into navigable waters of— 

9 ‘‘(A) a pesticide authorized for sale, dis10 tribution, or use under this Act; or 

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

12 from the application of the pesticide.’’. 

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

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

15 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(s) DISCHARGES OF PESTICIDES.— 

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

18 provided in paragraph (2), a permit shall not be re19 quired by the Administrator or a State under this 

20 Act for a discharge from a point source into navi21 gable waters of— 

22 ‘‘(A) a pesticide authorized for sale, dis23 tribution, or use under the Federal Insecticide, 

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

25 et seq.); or 


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

2 from the application of the pesticide. 

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

4 apply to the following discharges of a pesticide or 

5 pesticide residue: 

6 ‘‘(A) A discharge resulting from the appli7 cation of a pesticide in violation of a provision 

8 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 

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

10 to protecting water quality if— 

11 ‘‘(i) the discharge would not have oc12 curred without the violation; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the amount of pesticide or pes14 ticide residue in the discharge is greater 

15 than would have occurred without the vio16 lation. 

17 ‘‘(B) Stormwater discharges subject to reg18 ulation under subsection (p). 

19 ‘‘(C) The following discharges subject to 

20 regulation under this section: 

21 ‘‘(i) Manufacturing or industrial efflu22 ent. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Treatment works effluent. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Discharges incidental to the nor25 mal operation of a vessel, including a disVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:25 Sep 26, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3605.IS S3605

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1 charge resulting from ballasting operations 

2 or vessel biofouling prevention.’’. 

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

4 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Envi5 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the 

6 Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit a report to the Com7 mittee on Environment and Public Works and the Com8 mittee on Agriculture of the Senate and the Committee 

9 on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee 

10 on Agriculture of the House of Representatives that in11 cludes— 

12 (1) the status of intra-agency coordination be13 tween the Office of Water and the Office of Pes14 ticide Programs of the Environmental Protection 

15 Agency regarding streamlining information collec16 tion, standards of review, and data use relating to 

17 water quality impacts from the registration and use 

18 of pesticides; 

19 (2) an analysis of the effectiveness of current 

20 regulatory actions relating to pesticide registration 

21 and use aimed at protecting water quality; and 

22 (3) any recommendations on how the Federal 

23 Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 


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

2 water quality and human health. 

Æ 


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