II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3388 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that sewage 

treatment plants monitor for and report discharges of raw sewage, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2012 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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 ensure 

that sewage treatment plants monitor for and report 

discharges of raw sewage, 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 ‘‘Sewage Overflow Com5 munity Right-to-Know Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

8 Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(26) TREATMENT WORKS.—The term ‘treat2 ment works’ has the meaning given the term in sec3 tion 212.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC NOTIFICA5 TION OF SEWER OVERFLOWS. 

6 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(s) SEWER OVERFLOW MONITORING, REPORTING, 

10 AND NOTIFICATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(A) SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘sani14 tary sewer overflow’ means an overflow, 

15 spill, release, or diversion of wastewater 

16 from a sanitary sewer system. 

17 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘sani18 tary sewer overflow’ includes— 

19 ‘‘(I) overflows or releases of 

20 wastewater that reach waters of the 

21 United States; 

22 ‘‘(II) overflows or releases of 

23 wastewater in the United States that 

24 do not reach waters of the United 

25 States; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) wastewater backups into 

2 buildings that are caused by blockages 

3 or flow conditions in a sanitary sewer 

4 other than a building lateral. 

5 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘sani6 tary sewer overflow’ does not include— 

7 ‘‘(I) municipal combined sewer 

8 overflows or other discharges from the 

9 combined portion of a municipal com10 bined storm and sanitary sewer sys11 tem; or 

12 ‘‘(II) wastewater backups into 

13 buildings caused by a blockage or 

14 other malfunction of a building lateral 

15 that is privately owned. 

16 ‘‘(B) SEWER OVERFLOW.—The term 

17 ‘sewer overflow’ means a sanitary sewer over18 flow or a municipal combined sewer overflow. 

19 ‘‘(C) SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘single21 family residence’ means an individual 

22 dwelling unit. 

23 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘single24 family residence’ includes— 

25 ‘‘(I) an apartment; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a condominium; 

2 ‘‘(III) a house; and 

3 ‘‘(IV) a dormitory. 

4 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘single5 family residence’ does not include the com6 mon areas of a multidwelling structure. 

7 ‘‘(2) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—After the last 

8 day of the 180-day period beginning on the date on 

9 which regulations are promulgated under paragraph 

10 (5), a permit issued, renewed, or modified under this 

11 section by the Administrator or the State, as appli12 cable, for a publicly owned treatment works shall re13 quire, at a minimum, beginning on the date of the 

14 issuance, modification, or renewal, that the owner or 

15 operator of the treatment works— 

16 ‘‘(A) institute and use a feasible method17 ology, technology, or management program for 

18 monitoring sewer overflows to alert the owner 

19 or operator to the occurrence of a sewer over20 flow in a timely manner; 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of a sewer overflow that 

22 has the potential to affect human health, notify 

23 the public of the overflow as soon as practicable 

24 but not later than 24 hours after the time the 

25 owner or operator knows of the overflow; 


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1 ‘‘(C) in the case of a sewer overflow that 

2 may imminently and substantially endanger 

3 human health, notify public health authorities 

4 and other affected entities, such as public water 

5 systems, of the overflow immediately after the 

6 owner or operator knows of the overflow; 

7 ‘‘(D) report each sewer overflow on the 

8 discharge monitoring report of the owner or op9 erator to the Administrator or the State, as ap10 plicable, by describing— 

11 ‘‘(i) the magnitude, duration, and sus12 pected cause of the overflow; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the steps taken or planned to re14 duce, eliminate, or prevent recurrence of 

15 the overflow; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) the steps taken or planned to 

17 mitigate the impact of the overflow; and 

18 ‘‘(E) annually report to the Administrator 

19 or the State, as applicable, the total number of 

20 sewer overflows in a calendar year, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) the details of how much waste22 water was released per incident; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the duration of each sewer over24 flow; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the location of the overflow and 

2 any potentially affected receiving waters; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the responses taken to clean up 

4 the overflow; and 

5 ‘‘(v) the actions taken to mitigate im6 pacts and avoid further sewer overflows at 

7 the site. 

8 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The 

10 notification requirements of subparagraphs (B) 

11 and (C) of paragraph (2) shall not apply to a 

12 sewer overflow that is a wastewater backup into 

13 a single-family residence. 

14 ‘‘(B) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The 

15 reporting requirements of subparagraphs (D) 

16 and (E) of paragraph (2) shall not apply to a 

17 sewer overflow that is a release of wastewater 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(i) occurs in the course of mainte20 nance of the treatment works; 

21 ‘‘(ii) is managed consistently with the 

22 best management practices of the treat23 ment works; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) is intended to prevent sewer 

25 overflows. 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPORT TO EPA.—Each State shall pro2 vide to the Administrator annually a summary of 

3 sewer overflows that occur in the State. 

4 ‘‘(5) RULEMAKING BY EPA.—Not later than 1 

5 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

6 the Administrator, after providing notice and an op7 portunity for public comment, shall promulgate reg8 ulations to implement this subsection, including reg9 ulations— 

10 ‘‘(A) to establish a set of criteria to guide 

11 the owner or operator of a publicly owned treat12 ment works in— 

13 ‘‘(i) assessing whether a sewer over14 flow may imminently and substantially en15 danger human health; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) developing communication meas17 ures that are sufficient to give notice 

18 under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of para19 graph (2); and 

20 ‘‘(B) to define the terms ‘feasible’ and 

21 ‘timely’ as those terms apply to paragraph 

22 (2)(A), including site specific conditions. 

23 ‘‘(6) APPROVAL OF STATE NOTIFICATION PRO24 GRAMS.— 

25 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS FOR APPROVAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After the date on 

2 which regulations are promulgated under 

3 paragraph (5), a State may submit to the 

4 Administrator evidence that the State has 

5 in place a legally enforceable notification 

6 program that is substantially equivalent to 

7 the requirements of subparagraphs (B) 

8 and (C) of paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM REVIEW AND AUTHOR10 IZATION.—If the evidence submitted by a 

11 State under clause (i) shows the notifica12 tion program of the State to be substan13 tially equivalent to the requirements of 

14 subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph 

15 (2), the Administrator shall authorize the 

16 State to carry out that program instead of 

17 those requirements. 

18 ‘‘(iii) FACTORS FOR DETERMINING

19 SUBSTANTIAL EQUIVALENCY.—In carrying 

20 out a review of a State notification pro21 gram under clause (ii), the Administrator 

22 shall take into account— 

23 ‘‘(I) the scope of sewer overflows 

24 for which notification is required; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the length of time during 

2 which notification must be made; 

3 ‘‘(III) the number of persons 

4 that must be notified of sewer over5 flows; 

6 ‘‘(IV) the scope of enforcement 

7 activities ensuring that notifications of 

8 sewer overflows are made; and 

9 ‘‘(V) such other factors as the 

10 Administrator considers to be appro11 priate. 

12 ‘‘(B) REVIEW PERIOD.—If a State submits 

13 evidence with respect to a notification program 

14 under subparagraph (A)(i) in the 30-day period 

15 beginning on the date of promulgation of regu16 lations under paragraph (5), the requirements 

17 of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) 

18 shall not apply to a publicly owned treatment 

19 works located in the State until the date on 

20 which the Administrator completes a review of 

21 the notification program under subparagraph 

22 (A)(ii). 

23 ‘‘(C) WITHDRAWAL OF AUTHORIZATION.— 

24 If the Administrator, after conducting a public 

25 hearing, determines that a State is not adminVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:27 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3388.IS S3388

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1 istering and enforcing a State notification pro2 gram authorized under subparagraph (A)(ii) in 

3 accordance with the requirements of this para4 graph, the Administrator shall so notify the 

5 State and, if appropriate corrective action is not 

6 taken within a reasonable time, not to exceed 

7 90 days, the Administrator shall withdraw au8 thorization of the program and enforce the re9 quirements of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

10 paragraph (2) with respect to the State. 

11 ‘‘(7) SPECIAL RULES CONCERNING APPLICA12 TION OF NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Beginning 

13 on the day after the 30-day period that begins on 

14 the date of promulgation of regulations under para15 graph (5), the requirements of subparagraphs (B) 

16 and (C) of paragraph (2) shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) apply to the owner or operator of a 

18 publicly owned treatment works and be subject 

19 to enforcement under section 309; and 

20 ‘‘(B) supersede any notification require21 ments contained in a permit issued under this 

22 section for the treatment works to the extent 

23 that the notification requirements are less strin24 gent than the notification requirements of sub25 paragraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2), until 


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1 such date as a permit is issued, renewed, or 

2 modified under this section for the treatment 

3 works in accordance with paragraph (2).’’. 

4 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) PURPOSE OF STATE REVOLVING FUND.—Section 

6 601(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 1381(a)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ the first place it appears; 

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after ‘‘section 320’’ the fol11 lowing: ‘‘, and (4) for the implementation of require12 ments to monitor for sewer overflows under section 

13 402’’. 

14 (b) WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING LOAN

15 FUNDS.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 

16 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ the first place it appears; 

18 and 

19 (2) by inserting after ‘‘section 320 of this Act’’ 

20 the following: ‘‘, and (4) for the implementation of 

21 requirements to monitor for sewer overflows under 

22 section 402’’. 

23 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF ACT. 

24 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 

25 Act— 


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1 (1) limits the ability of any State to implement 

2 or enforce a more stringent monitoring or notifica3 tion standard than the applicable standard under 

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

5 1251 et seq.); 

6 (2) authorizes any sewer overflow; or 

7 (3) supplants or diminishes any obligation to 

8 comply with any requirement of the Federal Water 

9 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) or 

10 any other Federal or State law. 

Æ 


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