I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6360 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out activities 

for the restoration, conservation, and management of Onondaga Lake, 

New York, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. MAFFEI 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 direct 

the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out activities for the restoration, conservation, 

and management of Onondaga Lake, New York, 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 ‘‘Onondaga Lake Res5 toration Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ONONDAGA LAKE, NEW YORK. 

2 (a) RESTORATION, CONSERVATION, AND MANAGE3 MENT ACTIVITIES.—Title I of the Federal Water Pollution 

4 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 123. ONONDAGA LAKE, NEW YORK. 

7 ‘‘(a) RESTORATION, CONSERVATION, AND MANAGE8 MENT ACTIVITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF ONONDAGA LAKE WA10 TERSHED COUNCIL.—The Administrator shall estab11 lish a council, to be known as the ‘Onondaga Lake 

12 Watershed Council’, to develop a plan, consistent 

13 with subsection (g), for the restoration, conservation, 

14 and management of Onondaga Lake. The plan shall 

15 be known as the ‘Adaptive Management Plan’. 

16 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION OF ADAPTIVE MANAGE17 MENT PLAN.—The Administrator shall cooperate 

18 with Federal and State agencies and make grants, 

19 and otherwise make funds available under subsection 

20 (f), to carry out the recommendations of the Adapt21 ive Management Plan. Such recommendations shall 

22 be carried out— 

23 ‘‘(A) in consultation with the Onondaga 

24 Lake Watershed Council; and 

25 ‘‘(B) with the participation of the public, 

26 including the Onondaga Nation, Federal, State, 


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1 and local governmental entities, and all other 

2 entities that may be affected by activities under 

3 this section. 

4 ‘‘(b) ONONDAGA LAKE WATERSHED COUNCIL.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE MAN7 AGEMENT PLAN.—The Onondaga Lake Water8 shed Council shall develop and (as necessary to 

9 achieve the goals identified under subsection 

10 (c)(1)) periodically revise the Adaptive Manage11 ment Plan in consultation with the Onondaga 

12 Lake Scientific Center. 

13 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM FOR

14 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Onondaga Lake 

15 Watershed Council shall establish and carry out 

16 a comprehensive, inclusive, and ongoing pro17 gram for participation of the public, including 

18 the Onondaga Nation, Federal, State, and local 

19 governmental entities, and all other entities 

20 that may be affected by activities under this 

21 section, in the development and revision of the 

22 Adaptive Management Plan under subpara23 graph (A). 

24 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Onondaga Lake 

2 Watershed Council shall consist of the following 

3 members: 

4 ‘‘(i) The Administrator. 

5 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of the Army. 

6 ‘‘(iii) The head of any other interested 

7 Federal department or agency, as deter8 mined by the Administrator. 

9 ‘‘(iv) The Governor of the State of 

10 New York. 

11 ‘‘(v) A representative designated by 

12 the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs. 

13 ‘‘(vi) A representative designated by 

14 the mayor of the City of Syracuse, New 

15 York. 

16 ‘‘(vii) A representative designated by 

17 the County Executive of Onondaga County, 

18 New York. 

19 ‘‘(B) EX OFFICIO MEMBERSHIP.—The On20 ondaga Lake Watershed Council shall consist of 

21 the following ex officio, non-voting members: 

22 ‘‘(i) The Senators from the State of 

23 New York. 

24 ‘‘(ii) Each Member of the House of 

25 Representatives whose congressional disVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:40 Oct 14, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6360.IH H6360

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1 trict is located all or partially within the 

2 Onondaga Lake watershed. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Each member of the New York 

4 State Legislature whose district is located 

5 all or partially within the Onondaga Lake 

6 watershed. 

7 ‘‘(iv) Such other members as the Ad8 ministrator determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(C) DESIGNEES.—Any member of the 

10 Onondaga Lake Watershed Council specified in 

11 clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) or 

12 in subparagraph (B) may appoint a designee to 

13 serve in place of the member on the Council. 

14 ‘‘(3) COMMITTEES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Onondaga 

16 Lake Watershed Council shall adopt bylaws 

17 providing for the establishment of standing 

18 committees including the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) A Public Outreach and Participa20 tion Committee. 

21 ‘‘(ii) A Science and Engineering Com22 mittee. 

23 ‘‘(B) APPOINTMENT.—The Onondaga 

24 Lake Watershed Council shall appoint members 


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1 to each committee described in subparagraph 

2 (A). 

3 ‘‘(c) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF GOALS.—The Adapt5 ive Management Plan shall identify measurable goals 

6 for— 

7 ‘‘(A) the restoration, conservation, and 

8 management of Onondaga Lake; and 

9 ‘‘(B) compliance with all provisions of law 

10 (except a provision of law described in sub11 section (g)(1)(A)) affecting the restoration and 

12 conservation of Onondaga Lake, including the 

13 water quality standards established for Onon14 daga Lake (including total maximum daily 

15 loads established under section 303(d)(C)) and 

16 the Amended Consent Judgment and all efflu17 ent limitations therein (or otherwise promul18 gated under this Act). 

19 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATION OF STRATEGIES.—To 

20 achieve the goals identified under paragraph (1), the 

21 Adaptive Management Plan shall incorporate and 

22 update the recommendations of the Onondaga Lake 

23 Management Plan to recommend strategies for man24 agement of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the biological makeup of Onondaga 

2 Lake; 

3 ‘‘(B) the physical development of Onon4 daga Lake and its surroundings; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the use of Onondaga Lake for rec6 reational and other purposes. 

7 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ACTIVI8 TIES.—The strategies recommended under para9 graph (2) shall provide for coordination with all 

10 other activities to restore or conserve, or otherwise 

11 affecting the restoration or conservation of, Onon12 daga Lake, including ongoing public participation 

13 activities, monitoring activities, and other activities 

14 carried out under Federal or State law. 

15 ‘‘(4) ONGOING EVALUATION OF STRATEGIES.— 

16 To evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies rec17 ommended under paragraph (2) in achieving the 

18 goals identified under paragraph (1), the Adaptive 

19 Management Plan shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) identify specific monitoring param21 eters by which to make such evaluation, and 

22 provide for the periodic revision of the moni23 toring parameters to achieve such goals; 


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1 ‘‘(B) establish a monitoring program to 

2 measure the monitoring parameters identified 

3 under subparagraph (A); and 

4 ‘‘(C) provide for the periodic evaluation of 

5 the data collected pursuant to the monitoring 

6 program required by subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(5) APPROVAL.—The recommendations of the 

8 Adaptive Management Plan shall not be carried out 

9 under subsection (a)(2) before the date on which the 

10 plan is approved by the Administrator and the Gov11 ernor of the State of New York. The Administrator, 

12 after providing an opportunity for public review and 

13 comment, shall approve the plan not later than 120 

14 days after the date of its development under sub15 section (b)(1)(A) if the Adaptive Management Plan 

16 meets the requirements of this section and the Gov17 ernor of the State of New York concurs in such ap18 proval. 

19 ‘‘(6) EFFECT ON ONONDAGA LAKE MANAGE20 MENT PLAN.—This section shall not be construed to 

21 interfere with any activity carried out under the On22 ondaga Lake Management Plan, or any other activ23 ity affecting the restoration, conservation, or man24 agement of Onondaga Lake, before the date of apVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:40 Oct 14, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6360.IH H6360

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1 proval of the Adaptive Management Plan under 

2 paragraph (5). 

3 ‘‘(d) ONONDAGA LAKE SCIENTIFIC CENTER.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Onondaga Lake 

5 Watershed Council shall establish and direct a cen6 ter to be known as the ‘Onondaga Lake Scientific 

7 Center’. 

8 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Onondaga Lake Scientific 

9 Center shall advise the Onondaga Lake Watershed 

10 Council on— 

11 ‘‘(A) development of benchmarks to accom12 plish the goals identified under subsection 

13 (c)(1); 

14 ‘‘(B) implementation of the strategies rec15 ommended under subsection (c)(2); 

16 ‘‘(C) implementation of the monitoring 

17 program under subsection (c)(4)(B); 

18 ‘‘(D) establishment of the program for 

19 public participation described in subsection 

20 (b)(1)(B); and 

21 ‘‘(E) other matters concerning the develop22 ment and implementation of the Adaptive Man23 agement Plan. 

24 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Onondaga Lake Sci25 entific Center shall consist of the following members: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The Administrator. 

2 ‘‘(B) Non-Federal entities appointed by the 

3 Onondaga Lake Watershed Council, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) Syracuse University; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the State University of New 

6 York College of Environmental Science and 

7 Forestry; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the Upstate Freshwater Insti9 tute; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the Onondaga Environmental In11 stitute; and 

12 ‘‘(v) such other members as the Onon13 daga Lake Watershed Council may deem 

14 appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—The Onondaga Lake Sci16 entific Center shall submit to the Onondaga Lake 

17 Watershed Council an annual report— 

18 ‘‘(A) assessing the effectiveness of the 

19 strategies recommended under subsection (c)(2) 

20 in accomplishing the goals identified under sub21 section (c)(1); 

22 ‘‘(B) recommending changes to manage23 ment and monitoring activities to accomplish 

24 the goals identified under subsection (c)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) recommending means for implementa2 tion of such changes. 

3 ‘‘(e) ONONDAGA ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE.—The 

4 Onondaga Environmental Institute, as a condition of re5 ceiving grants under subsection (f)(2), shall provide ad6 ministrative services for the development and implementa7 tion of the Adaptive Management Plan. 

8 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

10 make funds available to members of the Onondaga 

11 Lake Watershed Council and Onondaga Lake Sci12 entific Center to carry out this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Administrator, in consulta14 tion with the Onondaga Lake Watershed Council, 

15 may make grants on a noncompetitive basis to the 

16 Governor of the State of New York, the mayor of 

17 the City of Syracuse, New York, the County Execu18 tive of Onondaga County, New York, and members 

19 of the Onondaga Lake Scientific Center described in 

20 subsection (d)(3)(B)— 

21 ‘‘(A) to implement the strategies rec22 ommended under section (c)(2); 

23 ‘‘(B) for research, surveys, administrative 

24 services, and studies; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) to gather data necessary to carry out 

2 the objectives of this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) NO RELIEF FROM LIABILITY.—Grants 

4 made under this subsection shall not relieve from li5 ability any person that would otherwise be liable 

6 under Federal or State law for damages, response 

7 costs, natural resource damages, restitution, equi8 table relief, or any other relief. 

9 ‘‘(4) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Federal funds 

10 expended for activities to carry out this section, in11 cluding funds made available under paragraph (1), 

12 grants made under paragraph (2), and funds used 

13 for administrative expenses for such activities under 

14 subsection (i)(2) shall not exceed 65 percent of the 

15 costs of such activities. The non-Federal share of 

16 such costs shall be provided from non-Federal 

17 sources, and may be provided through the provision 

18 of in-kind services. 

19 ‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL OR STATE LAW

21 OR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSIGNED THEREUNDER.— 

22 This section shall not be construed to alter, modify, 

23 or otherwise affect any other provision of Federal or 

24 State law or any responsibility assigned thereunder, 

25 including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a provision of law (including a provi2 sion of the Comprehensive Environmental Re3 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

4 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) or the New York 

5 State Environmental Conservation Law) that 

6 requires, and assigns responsibility for, the per7 formance of cleanup activities (including re8 sponse and removal activities) or other activities 

9 affecting the restoration or conservation of On10 ondaga Lake; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the responsibility assigned under a 

12 provision of law described in subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING LIABILITIES.— 

14 This section shall not be construed to create or en15 large any liability that any party may have for nat16 ural resource damages under any provision of law. 

17 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) AMENDED CONSENT JUDGMENT.—The 

19 term ‘Amended Consent Judgment’ means the 

20 Amended Consent Judgment entered January 20, 

21 1998, in the case of ‘Atlantic States Legal Founda22 tion v. The Onondaga County Department of Drain23 age and Sanitation’, Civil Action No. 88–CV–0066, 

24 in the United States District Court for the Northern 

25 District of New York, as amended. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ONONDAGA ENVIRONMENTAL INSTI2 TUTE.—The term ‘Onondaga Environmental Insti3 tute’ means the not-for-profit corporation established 

4 pursuant to section 401(d)(1) of the Great Lakes 

5 Critical Programs Act of 1990 (Public Law 101– 

6 596; 104 Stat. 3010) and section 411(d)(1) of the 

7 Water Resources Development Act of 1990 (Public 

8 Law 101–640; 104 Stat. 4648). 

9 ‘‘(3) ONONDAGA LAKE.—The term ‘Onondaga 

10 Lake’ means Onondaga Lake, New York, and its 

11 watershed. 

12 ‘‘(4) ONONDAGA LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

13 The term ‘Onondaga Lake Management Plan’ 

14 means the plan— 

15 ‘‘(A) developed pursuant to section 

16 401(a)(1) of the Great Lakes Critical Programs 

17 Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–596; 104 Stat. 

18 3010) and 411(a)(1) of the Water Resources 

19 Development Act of 1990 (Public Law 101– 

20 640; 104 Stat. 4648); 

21 ‘‘(B) modified by the Amended Consent 

22 Judgment; and 

23 ‘‘(C) revised under section 573(c)(1) of the 

24 Water Resources Development Act of 1999 

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1 fect before the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

5 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this 

6 section $10,000,000 each fiscal year. Amounts so 

7 appropriated shall remain available until expended. 

8 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Ad9 ministrator may use amounts appropriated under 

10 paragraph (1) for administrative expenses associated 

11 with carrying out this section.’’. 

12 (b) WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT OF

13 1999.—Section 573 of the Water Resources Development 

14 Act of 1999 (Public Law 106–53; 113 Stat. 372) is re15 pealed. Such section 573, as in effect on the day before 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, shall continue to 

17 apply to amounts appropriated before such date and made 

18 available to carry out such section. 

Æ 


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