I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4611 

To modify permitting requirements with respect to the discharge of any 

pollutant from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant in certain 

circumstances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 4, 2019 

Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To modify permitting requirements with respect to the discharge of any pollutant from the Point Loma Wastewater 

Treatment Plant in certain circumstances, 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 ‘‘Ocean Pollution Re5 duction Act II’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 4611 IH

1 (1) In 1972, Congress passed the Federal 

2 Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 

3 which required publicly owned treatment works to 

4 achieve secondary treatment capability by 1977. 

5 (2) In 1994, the United States District Court 

6 for the Southern District of California determined 

7 that upgrading the City of San Diego’s Point Loma 

8 Wastewater Treatment Plant (in this Act referred to 

9 as the ‘‘Point Loma Plant’’) to secondary treatment 

10 standard would not be in the public interest, being 

11 excessively costly without producing additional envi12 ronmental benefits. 

13 (3) The Point Loma Plant currently meets all 

14 the requirements of secondary treatment except for 

15 the removal of total suspended solids and bio16 chemical oxygen demand. 

17 (4) At the direction of Congress, the Environ18 mental Protection Agency (in this Act referred to as 

19 the ‘‘EPA’’) requested that the National Research 

20 Council advise the agency on ways to improve waste21 water management in coastal urban areas. The re22 sulting study ‘‘Managing Wastewater in Coastal 

23 Urban Areas’’ produced several important findings, 

24 including— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 4611 IH

1 (A) biochemical oxygen demand discharged 

2 through a well-designed outfall is generally not 

3 of ecological concern in open coastal waters; 

4 (B) total suspended solids can be ade5 quately controlled by advanced primary treat6 ment and high dilution outfalls; and 

7 (C) over-control is particularly likely along 

8 ocean coasts, but nevertheless full secondary 

9 treatment is required regardless of cost or lack 

10 of benefits. 

11 (5) Past reviews by the City of San Diego, the 

12 EPA, the State of California, and scientists affili13 ated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 

14 the University of California, San Diego, and other 

15 organizations have concluded the Point Loma Plant 

16 does not have any known significant adverse effect 

17 on the ocean environment outside the immediate 

18 area of the discharge. 

19 (6) The ocean outfall for the Point Loma Plant 

20 discharges effluent 4.5 miles from the coast at a 

21 depth of over 300 feet, one of the longest and deep22 est ocean outfalls in the world. 

23 (7) Implementing full secondary treatment 

24 standards at the Point Loma Plant will cost approxi25 mately $1,800,000,000. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 4611 IH

1 (8) Implementing full secondary treatment 

2 standards at the Point Loma Plant is contrary to 

3 the national interest, in that it will compromise 

4 views from the Cabrillo National Monument and 

5 interfere with the Navy’s use of adjacent property. 

6 (9) The City of San Diego generates all the en7 ergy it needs to operate the Point Loma Plant onsite 

8 through co-generation. Implementing full secondary 

9 treatment will turn a ‘‘green’’ facility into one of the 

10 region’s largest energy consumers, requiring the pur11 chase of over $17,000,000 each year in electricity 

12 and producing more than 100,000 tons of green13 house gas emissions annually. 

14 (10) Implementing full secondary treatment 

15 standards at the Point Loma Plant will require re16 moval of 1,250,000 tons of earth from environ17 mentally sensitive habitat immediately adjacent to 

18 the Point Loma Ecological Reserve. 

19 (11) Recognizing the unique situation sur20 rounding the Point Loma Plant, Congress adopted 

21 the Ocean Pollution Reduction Act (OPRA). OPRA 

22 allowed the Point Loma Plant to avoid conversion to 

23 full secondary treatment and instead operate under 

24 a modified permit according to standards contained 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 4611 IH

1 in sections 301(h) and 301(j)(5) of the Federal 

2 Water Pollution Control Act, as modified by OPRA. 

3 (12) The City of San Diego has complied with 

4 all requirements of OPRA and the results have been 

5 significant, including reduction in the discharge of 

6 total suspended solids and biochemical oxygen de7 mand, advanced ocean monitoring, and construction 

8 of 45,000,000 gallons per day of treatment capacity 

9 to produce reclaimed water at a cost of approxi10 mately $340,000,000. 

11 (13) This Act will capitalize on the record of 

12 improvements initiated under OPRA and provide a 

13 framework for further enhancements to the City of 

14 San Diego’s water and wastewater systems, in15 creased potable water reliability, and additional 

16 meaningful environmental protection. 

17 (14) The City of San Diego has completed its 

18 Water Purification Demonstration Project showing 

19 that municipal wastewater can successfully be treat20 ed to levels suitable for potable reuse. The City of 

21 San Diego completed its Recycled Water Study in 

22 2012 describing how wastewater can be diverted 

23 from the Point Loma Plant to new treatment facili24 ties to generate water suitable for potable reuse. 

25 Through the construction and operation of new 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 4611 IH

1 treatment facilities to produce 83,000,000 gallons 

2 per day of water suitable for potable reuse, the City 

3 of San Diego is expected to reduce the total sus4 pended solids discharged by the Point Loma Plant 

5 to the same or lower levels as would be achieved by 

6 implementing full secondary treatment, while cre7 ating an important new local source of water. 

8 (15) The City of San Diego currently relies on 

9 imported water for over 85 percent of its water sup10 ply. A new local source of water can significantly re11 duce the environmental impacts of importing water 

12 to San Diego from the Colorado River and the Cali13 fornia Bay-Delta by offsetting the City’s demand for 

14 imported water. 

15 (16) Due to the severe drought in California, 

16 the 2014 water allocation from the State Water 

17 Project was only 5 percent of normal, forcing water 

18 agencies to draw down water reserves, implement 

19 mandatory conservation measures, and search for 

20 new, dependable sources of water. 

21 SEC. 3. SAN DIEGO POINT LOMA PERMITTING REQUIRE22 MENTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

25 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) or section 307 of the Coastal Zone 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 4611 IH

1 Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456), the Adminis2 trator may issue a permit under section 402 of the Federal 

3 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342), which, in 

4 lieu of the requirements of section 301(j)(5) of such Act 

5 (33 U.S.C. 1311(j)(5)), and in lieu of section 

6 301(b)(1)(B) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(b)(1)(B)) oth7 erwise applicable to the discharge of biochemical oxygen 

8 demand (in this section referred to as ‘‘BOD’’) and total 

9 suspended solids (in this section referred to as ‘‘TSS’’) 

10 from the Point Loma Plant into marine waters, applies 

11 or otherwise ensures implementation of the provisions of 

12 subsection (b). 

13 (b) CONDITIONS.—The permit shall apply or other14 wise ensure that the applicant shall— 

15 (1) maintain the currently designed deep ocean 

16 outfall from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment 

17 Plant with a discharge depth of no less than 300 

18 feet and distance from the shore of no less than 4 

19 miles; 

20 (2) discharge no more than 12,000 metric tons 

21 of TSS per year commencing on the date of enact22 ment of this section, no more than 11,500 metric 

23 tons of TSS per year commencing on December 31, 

24 2025, and no more than 9,942 metric tons of TSS 

25 per year commencing on December 31, 2027; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•HR 4611 IH

1 (3) discharge not more than 60 milligrams per 

2 liter of TSS, calculated as a 30-day average; 

3 (4) remove no less than 80 percent of TSS on 

4 a monthly average and no less than 58 percent of 

5 BOD on an annual average, taking into account re6 moval occurring at all treatment processes for waste7 water upstream from and at the Point Loma Waste8 water Treatment Plant; 

9 (5) attain all other effluent limitations of sec10 ondary treatment as determined by the Adminis11 trator pursuant to section 304(d)(1) of the Federal 

12 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(d)(1)), 

13 other than with respect to concentration limits for 

14 BOD and TSS; 

15 (6) comply with the requirements applicable to 

16 Federal issuance of a permit under section 402 of 

17 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, including 

18 State approval consistent with this Act and ocean 

19 discharge criteria evaluation pursuant to sections 

20 401 and 403 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

21 Act, respectively (33 U.S.C. 1341 and 33 U.S.C. 

22 1343); 

23 (7) implement the pretreatment program re24 quirements of sections 301(h)(5) and 301(h)(6) of 

25 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•HR 4611 IH

1 1311(h)(5) and 33 U.S.C. 1311(h)(6)) in addition to 

2 the requirements of section 402(b)(8) of the Federal 

3 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(b)(8)); 

4 (8) provide 10 consecutive years of ocean moni5 toring data and analysis for the period immediately 

6 preceding the date of each application sufficient to 

7 demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Administrator 

8 that the discharge of pollutants pursuant to this sec9 tion meets the requirements of section 301(h)(2) of 

10 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

11 1311(h)(2)) and that the applicant has established 

12 and will maintain throughout the permit term an 

13 ocean monitoring program that meets or exceeds the 

14 requirements of section 301(h)(3) of the Federal 

15 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(h)(3)); 

16 and 

17 (9) to the extent potable reuse is permitted by 

18 Federal and State regulatory agencies, demonstrate 

19 that at least 83,000,000 gallons per day on an an20 nual average of water suitable for potable reuse will 

21 be produced by December 31, 2035, taking into ac22 count production of water suitable for potable reuse 

23 occurring at all treatment processes for wastewater 

24 upstream from and at the Point Loma Plant. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•HR 4611 IH

1 (c) MILESTONES.—The Administrator shall deter2 mine development milestones necessary to ensure compli3 ance with this section and include such milestones as con4 ditions in each permit issued before December 31, 2035. 

5 (d) SECONDARY TREATMENT.—Nothing in this sec6 tion prevents the applicant from alternatively submitting 

7 an application for the Point Loma Plant that complies 

8 with secondary treatment pursuant to section 

9 301(b)(1)(B) and section 402 of the Federal Water Pollu10 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(b)(1)(B) and 33 U.S.C. 

11 1342). 

12 (e) DEFINITIONS.—Any term used in this section 

13 which is also used under the Federal Water Pollution Con14 trol Act shall have the same meaning as when used in such 

15 Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS