I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1720 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2005 

Mr. BISHOP of New York 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 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 ‘‘Raw Sewage Overflow 

5 Community Right-to-Know Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Centers for Disease Control estimates 

9 that there are 7,100,000 cases of mild to moderate, 
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1 and 560,000 cases of moderate to severe, infectious 

2 waterborne disease in the United States each year. 

3 (2) Inadequately treated sewage is filled with 

4 bacteria, viruses, parasites, and worms that make 

5 people sick. 

6 (3) People who ingest or inhale inadequately 

7 treated sewage can contract gastroenteritis, hepa8 titis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, dysentery, and 

9 other gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. 

10 (4) Between 1,800,000 and 3,500,000 Ameri11 cans become sick every year just from swimming in 

12 waters contaminated by sanitary sewer overflows. 

13 (5) The loss of swimming opportunities (beach 

14 closings) due to pathogen contamination is valued at 

15 $1,000,000,000 to $2,000,000,000 annually in the 

16 United States. 

17 (6) Economic losses due to swimming-related 

18 illnesses are estimated at $28,000,000,000 annually. 

19 (7) Many sewer systems do not routinely mon20 itor to detect sewer overflows or report those that do 

21 occur to environmental or public health agencies. 

22 (8) Better monitoring, reporting, and public no23 tification of sewer overflows would save millions of 

24 Americans from getting sick every year. 
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1 (9) Public health authorities are not routinely 

2 notified of sewer overflows that threaten public 

3 health. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(24) SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW.—The term 

9 ‘sanitary sewer overflow’ means an overflow, spill, 

10 release, or diversion of wastewater from a sanitary 

11 sewer system. Such term does not include combined 

12 sewer overflows or other discharges from the com13 bined portions of a combined sewer system and does 

14 not include wastewater backups into buildings 

15 caused by a blockage or other malfunction of a 

16 building lateral that is privately owned. Such term 

17 includes overflows or releases of wastewater that 

18 reach waters of the United States, overflows or re19 leases of wastewater that do not reach waters of the 

20 United States, and wastewater backups into build21 ings that are caused by blockages or flow conditions 

22 in a sanitary sewer other than a building lateral.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC NOTIFICA2 TION OF SEWER OVERFLOWS. 

3 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(r) SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sub9 section, the owner or operator of a publicly owned 

10 treatment works (as defined in section 212) under a 

11 permit issued under this section— 

12 ‘‘(A) must institute and utilize a method13 ology, technology, or management program that 

14 will alert the owner or operator to the occur15 rence of a sanitary sewer overflow in a timely 

16 manner; 

17 ‘‘(B) must notify the public of a sanitary 

18 sewer overflow in any area where the overflow 

19 has the potential to affect human health; 

20 ‘‘(C) must notify the public as soon as 

21 practicable within 24 hours of the time the 

22 owner or operator becomes aware of the over23 flow; 

24 ‘‘(D) must immediately notify public health 

25 authorities and other affected entities, such as 

26 public water systems, of any sanitary sewer 
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1 overflow that may imminently and substantially 

2 endanger human health; 

3 ‘‘(E) must provide to the Administrator or 

4 the State in the case of a State that has a per5 mit program approved under this section either 

6 an oral or electronic report as soon as prac7 ticable within 24 hours of the time the owner 

8 or operator becomes aware of the overflow; 

9 ‘‘(F) must provide to the Administrator or 

10 the State, as the case may be, within 5 days of 

11 the time the owner or operator becomes aware 

12 of the overflow a written report describing— 

13 ‘‘(i) the magnitude, duration, and sus14 pected cause of the overflow; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the steps taken or planned to re16 duce, eliminate, and prevent recurrence of 

17 the overflow; and 

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

19 mitigate the impact of the overflow; 

20 ‘‘(G) must report all sanitary sewer over21 flows to waters of the United States on its 

22 monthly discharge monitoring report to the Ad23 ministrator or the State, as the case may be; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(H) must report to the Administrator or 

2 the State, as the case may be, the total number 

3 of such overflows (including overflows that do 

4 not reach any waters of the United States) in 

5 a calendar year, including the details of how 

6 much wastewater was released per incident, the 

7 duration of each overflow, the location of the 

8 overflow and any potentially affected receiving 

9 waters, the responses taken to clean up the 

10 overflow, and the actions taken to mitigate im11 pacts and avoid further sanitary sewer over12 flows at the site. 

13 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO EPA.—If a State receives a re14 port under paragraph (1)(H), the State shall report 

15 to the Administrator annually, in summary, the de16 tails of reported sanitary sewer overflows that oc17 curred in that State.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE. 

19 Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Con20 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 

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

22 and 

23 (2) by inserting after ‘‘320 of this Act’’ the fol24 lowing: ‘‘, and (4) for the implementation of require-
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1 ments to monitor, report, and notify the public of 

2 sanitary sewer overflows under section 402’’. 

3 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 Section 607 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

5 Act (33 U.S.C. 1387) is amended by striking ‘‘the fol6 lowing sums’’ and all that follows through the period at 

7 the end and inserting ‘‘$2,200,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2006 through 2012.’’. 

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