II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1386

To facilitate the remediation of contaminated sediments in the waters of

the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 6, 1997

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

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To facilitate the remediation of contaminated sediments in

the waters of the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Comprehensive En5 vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of

6 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) is amended by adding at

7 the end the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 127. REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS.

9 ‘‘(a) SEDIMENT QUALITY CRITERIA.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than Janu2 ary 1, 2001, after consultation with the States and

3 Indian tribes, the Administrator shall establish final

4 numerical sediment quality criteria for the 10 toxic,

5 persistent, or bioaccumulative substances that the

6 Administrator determines are most likely to ad7 versely affect human health and the environment.

8 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—Every 3 years after the date on

9 which criteria are established under paragraph (1)—

10 ‘‘(A) the Administrator shall review the list

11 of substances compiled under paragraph (1);

12 ‘‘(B) after consultation with the States and

13 Indian tribes, add or remove substances from

14 the list based on the risks of adverse effects to

15 human health and the environment (including

16 the risks of adverse developmental, reproduc17 tive, and transgenerational effects); and

18 ‘‘(C) not later than 3 years after the date

19 on which a substance is added to the list under

20 subparagraph (B), establish final numerical

21 sediment quality criteria for the substance.

22 ‘‘(b) REVISION OF HAZARD RANKING SYSTEM.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 months

24 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad25 ministrator shall revise the hazard ranking system
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1 referred to in section 105(a)(8)(A) to ensure that

2 the hazard ranking system more accurately assesses

3 the risks to human health and the environment from

4 aquatic sites with contaminated sediments (as that

5 term is applied for the purposes of section 118(c)(7)

6 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

7 U.S.C. 1268(c)(7))).

8 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT.—To ensure more

9 accurate assessments of health and environmental

10 risks at aquatic sites with contaminated sediments,

11 the assessment referred to in paragraph (1) shall

12 not—

13 ‘‘(A) include consideration of the costs of

14 carrying out response actions; or

15 ‘‘(B) require identification of the source of

16 a release.

17 ‘‘(3) TRANSITION PROVISION.—The hazard

18 ranking system in effect on the date of enactment of

19 this section shall continue in effect until the effective

20 date of the revised hazard ranking system required

21 by this subsection.

22 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS FOR RESPONSE AC23 TIONS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

25 provision of law, for each fiscal year, the Adminis-
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1 trator may expend up to $300,000,000 of funds ap2 propriated out of the Hazardous Substance

3 Superfund established under section 9507 of the In4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 for the purposes of

5 carrying out response actions and other corrective

6 actions at facilities containing contaminated sedi7 ments (as that term is applied for the purposes of

8 section 118(c)(7) of the Federal Water Pollution

9 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268(c)(7))).

10 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIES.—In expending funds under

11 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall give priority

12 to facilities, a release from which has adversely af13 fected or could adversely affect human health or the

14 environment, in the following order:

15 ‘‘(A) A facility in a watershed with respect

16 to which—

17 ‘‘(i) a program has been or is being

18 implemented that has significantly reduced

19 or is significantly reducing or preventing

20 the deposition into sediment of a persistent

21 and bioaccumulative toxic substance from

22 the watershed; and

23 ‘‘(ii) a State or local government hav24 ing jurisdiction over a portion of the water-
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1 shed contributes 25 percent or more of the

2 response costs.

3 ‘‘(B) A facility in a watershed with respect

4 to which only subparagraph (A)(i) applies.

5 ‘‘(C) A facility in a watershed with respect

6 to which only subparagraph (A)(ii) applies.

7 ‘‘(D) A facility in a watershed with respect

8 to which subparagraph (A) does not apply.

9 ‘‘(d) HAZARD RANKING SYSTEM SCORING PACK10 AGE.—

11 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF FACILITIES.—From

12 the comprehensive national survey of data regarding

13 aquatic sediment quality conducted under section

14 503(a) of the Water Resources Development Act of

15 1992 (33 U.S.C. 1271(a)), the Administrator shall

16 identify the 20 facilities containing contaminated

17 sediments (as that term is applied for the purposes

18 of section 118(c)(7) of the Federal Water Pollution

19 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268(c)(7))) that are most

20 likely to adversely affect human health and the envi21 ronment and that have not been the subject of any

22 Federal or State response action or other corrective

23 action.

24 ‘‘(2) SCORING PACKAGE.—After identifying the

25 facilities under paragraph (1), the Administrator,
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1 not later than 3 years after the date of enactment

2 of this section, shall—

3 ‘‘(A) prepare a comprehensive scoring

4 package under the hazard ranking system re5 ferred to in section 105(a)(8)(A) for each facil6 ity, unless a State or remedial action planning

7 committee objects to the conduct of the assess8 ment necessary for the scoring in an area or

9 watershed under the jurisdiction of the State or

10 committee; and

11 ‘‘(B) report to Congress the results of each

12 scoring package prepared under subparagraph

13 (A).’’.

14 (b) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING PRIORITIES AMONG

15 RELEASES.—Section 105(a)(8)(A) of the Comprehensive

16 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

17 of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(A)) is amended by insert18 ing before the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, except

19 that criteria and priorities under this paragraph shall not

20 be based on the extent to which the President is able to

21 identify 1 or more potentially responsible parties or 1 or

22 more specific sources of a release’’.

23 (c) INCLUSION IN REPORT ON MONITORING OF

24 AQUATIC SEDIMENT QUALITY.—Section 503(b)(2) of the

25 Water Resources Development Act of 1992 (33 U.S.C.
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1 1271(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the follow2 ing: ‘‘Each report shall include information on all facilities

3 containing contaminated sediments that are listed on the

4 National Priorities List under section 105(a)(8)(B) of the

5 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,

6 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)).’’.

7 (d) REPORT ON HAZARD RANKING SYSTEM.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator

10 shall submit to Congress a report assessing the ex11 tent to which the hazard ranking system referred to

12 in section 105(a)(8)(A) of the Comprehensive Envi13 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability

14 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(A)) (as revised

15 in 1990) has achieved the objectives specified in

16 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 105(c) of that Act

17 (42 U.S.C. 9605(c)).

18 (2) CONTENTS.—The report shall include a

19 comprehensive assessment of the number and type of

20 aquatic facilities that have been scored under the

21 hazard ranking system (as revised in 1990) and the

22 level of risk that the facilities pose to human health

23 and the environment.

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