II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 898 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary to establish 

a comprehensive design standard program to prevent, control, and treat 

polluted stormwater runoff from federally funded highways and roads, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary to establish a comprehensive design standard program to prevent, control, and treat polluted stormwater 

runoff from federally funded highways and roads, 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 ‘‘Safe Treatment of Pol5 luted Stormwater Runoff Act’’ or the ‘‘STOPS Runoff 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY RUNOFF POLLUTION MAN2 AGEMENT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 23, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 330. FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY RUNOFF POLLUTION 

7 MANAGEMENT PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) CONTROL MEASURE.—The term ‘control 

10 measure’ means a program, structural or non11 structural management practice, operational proce12 dure, or policy on or off the project site that is in13 tended to prevent, reduce, or control highway runoff 

14 pollution. 

15 ‘‘(2) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘covered 

16 project’ means a rehabilitation, reconfiguration, ren17 ovation, major resurfacing, or construction project 

18 carried out under this title that— 

19 ‘‘(A) results in a 10-percent or greater in20 crease in impervious surface of the aerial extent 

21 within the right-of-way of the project limit on 

22 a Federal-aid highway or associated facility; or 

23 ‘‘(B) results in an increase of 1 acre or 

24 more in impervious surface coverage. 

25 ‘‘(3) HIGHWAY RUNOFF POLLUTION.—The term 

26 ‘highway runoff pollution’ means, in relation to a 


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1 Federal-aid highway, associated facility, or control 

2 measure retrofit project, one or more of the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(A) A discharge of sediment, metals, 

5 chemicals, nitrogen and phosphorous, or oil and 

6 grease in runoff. 

7 ‘‘(B) A discharge of peak flow rate, water 

8 temperature, or volume of runoff that exceeds 

9 predevelopment amounts. 

10 ‘‘(4) PREDEVELOPMENT HYDROLOGY.—The 

11 term ‘predevelopment hydrology’ means, for project 

12 sites covered by this section, that— 

13 ‘‘(A) the precipitation from all rainfall 

14 events less than or equal to the 95th percentile 

15 rain event shall be managed on-site through 

16 stormwater management practices designed, 

17 constructed, and maintained to prevent off-site 

18 discharge, to the maximum extent technically 

19 feasible; or 

20 ‘‘(B) runoff typical of natural conditions 

21 prior to anthropogenic disturbance, as deter22 mined by site-specific conditions, local meteor23 ology, and continuous simulation modeling tech24 niques, are preserved through stormwater man25 agement practices that are designed, conVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:04 May 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S898.IS S898

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1 structed, and maintained to manage the vol2 ume, rate, and temperature of stormwater run3 off following construction. 

4 ‘‘(5) WATERSHED-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL

5 MANAGEMENT APPROACH.—The term ‘watershed6 based environmental management approach’ means 

7 an approach under which— 

8 ‘‘(A) the selection of solutions that prevent 

9 or minimize the environmental impact of an in10 dividual project is made within the broader con11 text of the environmental protection and res12 toration goals of any watershed that drains the 

13 project site, rather than selecting solutions sole14 ly based on site level considerations; and 

15 ‘‘(B) priority consideration is given to— 

16 ‘‘(i) protection of drinking water sup17 plies; 

18 ‘‘(ii) protection and restoration of wa19 terways listed by a State as impaired in 

20 accordance with section 303(d) of the Fed21 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 

22 U.S.C. 1313(d)); 

23 ‘‘(iii) preservation of aquatic eco24 systems and fisheries; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) cost-effective expenditure of 

2 Federal funds. 

3 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, with the con4 currence of the Administrator of the Environmental Pro5 tection Agency, shall establish a Federal-aid highway run6 off pollution avoidance and management program to en7 sure that covered projects are sited, constructed, and 

8 maintained in accordance with design standards intended 

9 to protect surface and ground water quality and ensure 

10 the long-term management of stormwater originating from 

11 Federal-aid highways. 

12 ‘‘(c) PROJECT APPROVAL.—The Secretary may ap13 prove a covered project of a State under section 106 only 

14 if the State provides assurances satisfactory to the Sec15 retary that the State will site, design, and construct the 

16 covered project in accordance with the design standards 

17 described in subsection (d). 

18 ‘‘(d) DESIGN STANDARDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The post-construction con20 dition of a covered project shall maintain or restore, 

21 to the maximum extent technically feasible, the 

22 predevelopment hydrology of the project site with re23 gard to the temperature, rate, chemical composition, 

24 volume, and duration of flow. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED PROJECTS IN IMPAIRED WATER2 SHEDS.—Any covered project carried out within a 

3 watershed that contains an impaired water listed 

4 under section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution 

5 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(d)) shall be in accord6 ance with— 

7 ‘‘(A) the load or wasteload allocation re8 quirements established by the Administrator of 

9 the Environmental Protection Agency or the 

10 State; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the requirements relating to 

12 predevelopment hydrology under paragraph (1). 

13 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL PRIORITIZED REQUIRE14 MENTS.—In addition to the requirements described 

15 in paragraphs (1) and (2), a covered project shall, 

16 in the following order of priority— 

17 ‘‘(A) reduce the creation of highway runoff 

18 pollution from the covered project by— 

19 ‘‘(i) avoiding or minimizing the alter20 ation of natural features and hydrology; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) maximizing the use of pollution 

23 source control measures that use existing 

24 terrain and natural features, including nat25 ural drainage ways, soils, and vegetation, 


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1 to reduce creation of pollution from the 

2 covered project; 

3 ‘‘(B) maximize the capture of highway 

4 runoff pollution created by the covered project 

5 through control measures, including environ6 mental site design techniques and other control 

7 measures that promote evapotranspiration, in8 filtration, reuse, and retention; and 

9 ‘‘(C) for highway runoff pollution remain10 ing after the application of the onsite measures 

11 in subparagraphs (A) and (B), use a watershed12 based environmental management or equivalent 

13 approach to avoid adverse water quality effects 

14 from the covered project through— 

15 ‘‘(i) capture and treatment of highway 

16 runoff pollution with appropriate control 

17 measures on the site; 

18 ‘‘(ii) discharge of highway runoff pol19 lution directly to an off-site control meas20 ure under the control of the State with 

21 documented capacity to provide function22 ally and quantitatively equivalent manage23 ment of runoff pollution to that required to 

24 achieve the minimum standards of this 


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1 subsection for the design life of the project; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iii) if the control measures described 

4 in clauses (i) and (ii) are found to be tech5 nically infeasible based on site conditions 

6 or other appropriate factors, and an appro7 priate off-site runoff pollution mitigation 

8 program exists, contribution to a mitiga9 tion program that would produce function10 ally and quantitatively equivalent or great11 er control and management of runoff pollu12 tion to that required by this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(4) OFF-SITE CONTROL MEASURES.—Of the 

14 control measures described in paragraph (3)(C)(iii), 

15 the Secretary shall give priority to off-site control 

16 measures that address the impacts of runoff pollu17 tion to waterways that are— 

18 ‘‘(A) listed as impaired in accordance with 

19 section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution 

20 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(d)); and 

21 ‘‘(B) located in— 

22 ‘‘(i) the same 8-digit Hydrologic Unit 

23 Code as the covered project; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the lowest Hydrologic Unit Code 

2 that is the most protective of the waters 

3 receiving the discharge. 

4 ‘‘(e) GUIDANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec7 retary, with the concurrence of the Administrator of 

8 the Environmental Protection Agency, shall publish 

9 guidance to assist States in complying with this sec10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF GUIDANCE.—The guidance 

12 shall include guidelines for the establishment of 

13 State processes and programs that will be used to 

14 assist in avoiding, minimizing, and managing high15 way runoff pollution from covered projects in accord16 ance with the design standards described in sub17 section (d), including guidelines— 

18 ‘‘(A) to help States integrate the planning, 

19 selection, design, and long-term operation and 

20 maintenance of control measures consistent 

21 with the design standards in the overall project 

22 planning process; 

23 ‘‘(B) for a watershed-based environmental 

24 management approach to assist projects in 

25 achieving consistency with the design standards; 


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1 ‘‘(C) for the development and use of off2 site runoff pollution mitigation programs to 

3 achieve compliance with the design standards; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(D) for State inspection and reporting to 

6 document State compliance and project consist7 ency with this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) UPDATING STANDARDS.—Not later than 5 

9 years after the date of publication of the guidance, 

10 and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, with 

11 concurrence of the Administrator of the Environ12 mental Protection Agency, shall update, as applica13 ble, the guidance described in this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

15 Nothing in this section affects the applicability of any pro16 vision of Federal, State, or local law that is more stringent 

17 than the requirements of this section. 

18 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2)(A), the Secretary shall require each State 

21 to submit to the Secretary an annual report that de22 scribes the highway runoff pollution reductions 

23 achieved for covered projects carried out by the 

24 State after the date of enactment of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS UNDER PER2 MIT.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State shall not be 

4 required to submit an annual report described 

5 in paragraph (1) if the State— 

6 ‘‘(i) is operating Federal-aid highways 

7 in the State in a post-construction condi8 tion in accordance with a permit issued 

9 under the Federal Water Pollution Control 

10 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

11 ‘‘(ii) is subject to an annual reporting 

12 requirement under such a permit (regard13 less of whether the permitting authority is 

14 a Federal or State agency); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) carries out a covered project 

16 with respect to a Federal-aid highway in 

17 the State described in clause (i). 

18 ‘‘(B) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT.—A Fed19 eral or State permitting authority that receives 

20 an annual report described in subparagraph 

21 (A)(ii) shall, upon receipt of such a report, 

22 transmit a copy of the report to the Sec23 retary.’’. 

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend25 ments made by this Act apply to covered projects (as deVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:04 May 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S898.IS S898

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1 fined in section 330(a)(2) of title 23, United States Code) 

2 (as added by subsection (a)), the construction of which 

3 commences on or after the date that is 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act. 

5 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap6 ter 3 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘330. Federal-aid highway runoff pollution management program.’’. 

Æ 


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