I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1175 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and direct the Secretary 

of the Interior to conduct a study with respect to stormwater runoff 

from oil and gas operations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2013 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. 

FATTAH, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. 

HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KEATING, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. 

LEE of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. 

MENG, Mr. MORAN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, 

Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 

SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 

TAKANO, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

COHEN, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Ms. CHU, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. 

EDWARDS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 

direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study 

with respect to stormwater runoff from oil and gas operations, 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, 


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•HR 1175 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Focused Reduction of 

3 Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking 

4 Environmental Regulation Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘FRESH5 ER Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STORMWATER RUNOFF FROM OIL, GAS, AND MIN7 ING OPERATIONS. 

8 (a) LIMITATION ON PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—Sec9 tion 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

10 U.S.C. 1342) is amended by striking subsection (l) and 

11 inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(l) LIMITATION ON PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—The 

13 Administrator shall not require a permit under this section 

14 for discharges composed entirely of return flows from irri15 gated agriculture, nor shall the Administrator directly or 

16 indirectly, require any State to require such a permit.’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 502 of the Federal Water 

18 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking paragraph (24); and 

20 (2) by redesignating paragraph (25) as para21 graph (24). 

22 (c) STUDY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte24 rior shall conduct a study of stormwater impacts 

25 with respect to any area that the Secretary deter26 mines may be contaminated by stormwater runoff 


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•HR 1175 IH

1 associated with oil or gas operations, which shall in2 clude— 

3 (A) an analysis of measurable contamina4 tion in such area; 

5 (B) an analysis of ground water resources 

6 in such area; and 

7 (C) an analysis of the susceptibility of 

8 aquifers in such area to contamination from 

9 stormwater runoff associated with such oper10 ations. 

11 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

13 submit to Congress a report on the results of studies 

14 conducted under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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