I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1549

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a National

Clean Water Trust Fund and to authorize the Administrator of the

Environmental Protection Agency to use amounts in that Fund to carry

out projects to restore and recover waters of the United States from

damages resulting from violations of that Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr.

GUTIERREZ, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr.

OWENS, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. TRAFICANT, Ms. MCKINNEY,

Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,

Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. QUINN, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. CLAYTON,

Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. LEWIS of

Georgia, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DANNER, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. STARK, Mr.

BLUMENAUER, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FILNER, Mr.

KLINK, Mr. MINGE, Mr. HILL of Indiana, Ms. CARSON, and Ms. HOOLEY

of Oregon) 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 establish a National Clean Water Trust Fund and to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

Agency to use amounts in that Fund to carry out

projects to restore and recover waters of the United

States from damages resulting from violations of that

Act, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘National Clean Water

5 Trust Fund Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.

7 Section 309 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

8 Act (33 U.S.C. 1319) is amended by adding at the end

9 the following:

10 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL CLEAN WATER TRUST FUND.—

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

12 the Treasury a National Clean Water Trust Fund

13 (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’) con14 sisting of amounts transferred to the Fund under

15 paragraph (2) and amounts credited to the Fund

16 under paragraph (3).

17 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS.—For fiscal year

18 2000, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary

19 of the Treasury shall transfer to the Fund an

20 amount determined by the Secretary to be equal to

21 the total amount deposited in the general fund of

22 the Treasury in the preceding fiscal year from fines,

23 penalties, and other moneys obtained through en24 forcement actions conducted pursuant to this section

25 and section 505(a)(1), including moneys obtained
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1 under consent decrees and excluding any amounts

2 ordered to be used to carry out mitigation projects

3 under this section or section 505(a), as the case may

4 be.

5 ‘‘(3) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.—The Sec6 retary of the Treasury shall invest in interest-bear7 ing obligations of the United States such portion of

8 the Fund as is not, in the Secretary’s judgment, re9 quired to meet current withdrawals. Such obligations

10 shall be acquired and sold and interest on, and the

11 proceeds from the sale or redemption of, such obliga12 tions shall be credited to the Fund in accordance

13 with the requirements of section 9602 of the Inter14 nal Revenue Code of 1986.

15 ‘‘(4) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR REMEDIAL

16 PROJECTS.—Amounts in the Fund shall be available,

17 as provided in appropriations Acts, to the Adminis18 trator to carry out projects to restore and recover

19 waters of the United States from damages resulting

20 from violations of this Act which are subject to en21 forcement actions under this section and similar

22 damages resulting from the discharge of pollutants

23 into the waters of the United States.

24 ‘‘(5) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—In selecting projects to

2 carry out under this subsection, the Adminis3 trator shall give priority to a project to restore

4 and recover waters of the United States from

5 damages described in paragraph (4), if an en6 forcement action conducted pursuant to this

7 section or section 505(a)(1) against such viola8 tion, or another violation in the same adminis9 trative region of the Environmental Protection

10 Agency as such violation, resulted in amounts

11 being deposited in the general fund of the

12 Treasury.

13 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION WITH STATES.—In

14 selecting projects to carry out under this sec15 tion, the Administrator shall consult with the

16 States.

17 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS.—In de18 termining an amount to allocate to carry out a

19 project to restore and recover waters of the

20 United States from damages described in para21 graph (4), the Administrator shall, in the case

22 of a priority project under subparagraph (A),

23 take into account the total amount deposited in

24 the general fund of the Treasury as a result of

25 enforcement actions conducted with respect to
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1 such violation pursuant to this section or sec2 tion 505(a)(1).

3 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator

4 may carry out a project under this subsection either

5 directly or by making grants to, or entering into

6 contracts with, the Secretary of the Army or any

7 other public or private entity.

8 ‘‘(7) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1

9 year after the date of enactment of this subsection,

10 and every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall

11 transmit to Congress a report on implementation of

12 this subsection.’’.

13 SEC. 3. USE OF CIVIL PENALTIES FOR MITIGATION

14 PROJECTS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d) of the Federal

16 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1319(d)) is

17 amended by inserting after the second sentence the fol18 lowing: ‘‘The court may, in the court’s discretion, order

19 that a civil penalty be used for carrying out mitigation

20 projects which are consistent with the purposes of this Act

21 and which enhance the public health or environment.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 505(a) of

23 such Act (33 U.S.C. 1365(a)) is amended by inserting be24 fore the period at the end of the last sentence the fol25 lowing: ‘‘, including ordering the use of a civil penalty for
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1 carrying out mitigation projects in accordance with section

2 309(d)’’.

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