I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 600 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 

for nutrient removal technologies to States in the Great Lakes System. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2013 

Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 

DINGELL, Ms. MOORE, and Mr. RYAN of Ohio) 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 nutrient removal technologies to 

States in the Great Lakes System. 

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 ‘‘Great Lakes Nutrient 

5 Removal Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) ineffective wastewater treatment is one of 

9 the most common sources of water pollution; 


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1 (2) nutrient pollution, particularly phosphorus 

2 loading, continues to be one of the most significant 

3 water quality issues facing the Great Lakes System; 

4 (3) limiting phosphorus loads is key to control5 ling excessive algal growth, and a coordinated Great 

6 Lakes System-wide strategy to change how nutrients 

7 are discharged is urgent; and 

8 (4) nutrient removal technology is one of the 

9 most reliable, cost effective, and direct methods for 

10 reducing the flow of phosphorus and other harmful 

11 nutrients from point sources in the Great Lakes 

12 System. 

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

14 (1) to authorize the Administrator of the Envi15 ronmental Protection Agency to provide financial as16 sistance to Great Lakes States and municipalities 

17 for use in upgrading publically owned wastewater 

18 treatment plants in the Great Lakes System with 

19 nutrient removal technologies; and 

20 (2) to further the goal of restoring the water of 

21 the Great Lakes System to conditions that are pro22 tective of human health and aquatic life. 


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1 SEC. 3. SEWAGE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

3 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

6 ‘‘SEC. 701. SEWAGE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

10 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad11 ministrator shall establish a program within the En12 vironmental Protection Agency to provide grants to 

13 Great Lakes States, and municipalities thereof, to 

14 upgrade eligible facilities with nutrient removal tech15 nologies. 

16 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing a grant under 

17 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) consult with the Program Office; and 

19 ‘‘(B) give priority to eligible facilities at 

20 which nutrient removal technology upgrades 

21 would— 

22 ‘‘(i) produce the greatest nutrient load 

23 reductions at points of discharge; 

24 ‘‘(ii) result in the greatest environ25 mental benefits to the Great Lakes Sys26 tem; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) help meet the objectives related 

2 to nutrients outlined in Annex 4 of the 

3 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agree4 ment. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of an ap7 plication from a State or municipality for a 

8 grant under this section, if the Administrator 

9 approves the request, the Administrator shall 

10 transfer to the State or municipality the 

11 amount of assistance determined necessary by 

12 the Administrator, in consultation with the Pro13 gram Office, to carry out the facility upgrades 

14 that are the subject of the application. 

15 ‘‘(B) FORM.—An application submitted by 

16 a State or municipality under subparagraph (A) 

17 shall be in such form and shall include such in18 formation as the Administrator may prescribe. 

19 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or municipality 

20 that receives a grant under this section shall use the 

21 grant to upgrade eligible facilities with nutrient re22 moval technologies that are designed to reduce total 

23 nutrients in discharged wastewater. 

24 ‘‘(5) COST SHARING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

2 share of the cost of upgrading any eligible facil3 ity as described in paragraph (1) using funds 

4 provided under this section shall not exceed 55 

5 percent. 

6 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non7 Federal share of the costs of upgrading any eli8 gible facility as described in paragraph (1) 

9 using funds provided under this section may be 

10 provided in the form of funds made available to 

11 a State or municipality under— 

12 ‘‘(i) any provision of this Act other 

13 than this section (including funds made 

14 available from a State water pollution con15 trol revolving fund established under title 

16 VI); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) any other Federal or State law. 

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) 2012 GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY

20 AGREEMENT.—The term ‘2012 Great Lakes Water 

21 Quality Agreement’ means the Great Lakes Water 

22 Quality Protocol of 2012, signed at Washington on 

23 September 7, 2012 (further amending the Agree24 ment between the United States of America and 


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1 Canada on Great Lakes Water Quality, 1978, signed 

2 at Ottawa on November 22, 1978). 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—The term ‘eligible 

4 facility’ means a municipal wastewater treatment 

5 plant that— 

6 ‘‘(A) as of the date of enactment of this 

7 section, has a permitted design capacity to treat 

8 an annual average of at least 500,000 gallons 

9 of wastewater per day; and 

10 ‘‘(B) is located within the Great Lakes 

11 System in any of the Great Lakes States. 

12 ‘‘(3) GREAT LAKES STATES; GREAT LAKES SYS13 TEM.—The terms ‘Great Lakes States’ and ‘Great 

14 Lakes System’ have the meanings given those terms 

15 in section 118. 

16 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM OFFICE.—The term ‘Program 

17 Office’ means the Great Lakes National Program 

18 Office established by section 118(b). 

19 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

21 appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 

22 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2017. Such 

23 sums shall remain available until expended. 

24 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Adminis25 trator may use not to exceed 4 percent of any 


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1 amount made available under paragraph (1) to pay 

2 administrative costs incurred in carrying out this 

3 section.’’. 

Æ 


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