II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S.1621

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize funding

to carry out certain water quality restoration projects for Lake Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 22, 1999

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself and Mr. BREAUX) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and

Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize funding to carry out certain water quality restoration projects for Lake Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana, 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 ‘‘Lake Pontchartrain

5 Basin Restoration Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the Lake Pontchartrain Basin forms one of

2 the largest natural estuaries in the continental

3 United States;

4 (2) the Basin drains an area of almost 5,000

5 square miles from 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mis6 sissippi counties;

7 (3) the ecology of the Basin provides the di8 verse essential habitat that supports countless spe9 cies of fish, birds, mammals, and plants;

10 (4) the extensive wetland of the Basin provides

11 the primary nursery for much of the seafood har12 vested in the Gulf Coast;

13 (5) conditions resulting from urbanization, in14 creasing population growth and development, sewage

15 and septic tank discharges, animal waste, herbicides,

16 pesticides, fertilizers, stormwater runoff, sediments

17 from construction, and sewage from fishing camps

18 and residences should be addressed to improve the

19 environment and ecology of the Basin;

20 (6) a major source of pollution in the Basin is

21 raw or partially treated human waste from—

22 (A) communities with poor sewer systems

23 or without sewer systems; and

24 (B) septic tank systems that are not oper25 ating properly;
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1 (8) stormwater discharges that combine with ef2 fluent from sanitary discharges from broken lines

3 are channeled directly into Lake Pontchartrain or

4 adjacent bodies of water;

5 (7) a number of local government agencies are

6 working on restoration efforts that have a direct im7 pact on water quality in the Basin, including the De8 partment of Environmental Quality of Louisiana,

9 the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, Jeffer10 son Parish, and other governmental agencies;

11 (8) a number of non-regulating organizations,

12 such as the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation

13 and the University of New Orleans, are playing sub14 stantial, essential roles in restoration efforts;

15 (9) the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation,

16 the University of New Orleans, and the Regional

17 Planning Commission for Jefferson, Orleans,

18 Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany Par19 ishes, Louisiana, have entered into a memorandum

20 of understanding to better facilitate the restoration

21 and preservation of water quality and habitats

22 throughout the Basin; and

23 (10) the programs and activities of the various

24 Federal agencies involved with administration of

25 laws, programs, and assets that affect the water
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1 quality of the Basin, including the Environmental

2 Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers,

3 the Department of Agriculture, the Department of

4 the Interior, and other agencies, lack coordination

5 and sufficient resources to measure and remediate

6 water quality problems in the Basin.

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

8 (1) to coordinate the restoration efforts of Fed9 eral, State, and local agencies and organizations in

10 the restoration of the Basin;

11 (2) to establish the Lake Pontchartrain Basin

12 Restoration Program in the office of the Environ13 mental Protection Agency; and

14 (3) to authorize and provide resources for res15 toration projects in the Basin.

16 SEC. 3. LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN.

17 Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

18 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

19 the following:

20 ‘‘SEC. 121. LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN.

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

22 ‘‘(1) BASIN.—The term ‘Basin’ means the Lake

23 Pontchartrain Basin located in the State of Lou24 isiana.
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1 ‘‘(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the

2 Lake Pontchartrain Executive Council established

3 under subsection (b)(3)(A).

4 ‘‘(3) MANAGEMENT PLAN—The term ‘manage5 ment plan’ means the watershed management plan

6 developed under subsection (b)(3)(B).

7 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means

8 the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program

9 established under subsection (b)(1).

10 ‘‘(b) LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN RESTORATION

11 PROGRAM.—

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180

13 days after the date of enactment of this section, the

14 Administrator shall establish within the Environ15 mental Protection Agency the Lake Pontchartrain

16 Basin Restoration Program.

17 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program

18 shall be—

19 ‘‘(A) to coordinate efforts among and pro20 vide resources to the various Federal, State,

21 and local governmental agencies and nonregula22 tory organizations to reduce pollution in the

23 Basin; and

24 ‘‘(B) to restore the Basin to ecological

25 health.
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1 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—

2 ‘‘(A) LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN EXECUTIVE

3 COUNCIL.—Not later than 180 days after the

4 date of enactment of this section, the Adminis5 trator shall establish the Lake Pontchartrain

6 Executive Council, to be composed of—

7 ‘‘(i) the Administrator;

8 ‘‘(ii) the Governor of the State of

9 Louisiana;

10 ‘‘(iii) the Chairman of the Regional

11 Planning Commission;

12 ‘‘(iv) the Chancellor of the University

13 of New Orleans; and

14 ‘‘(v) the Executive Director of the

15 Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

16 ‘‘(B) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than

18 180 days after the date of enactment of

19 this section, the Administrator, in coopera20 tion with appropriate Federal, State, and

21 local authorities, shall assist the Council in

22 developing a comprehensive, multiuse, wa23 tershed management plan for the restora24 tion and protection of the Basin.
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1 ‘‘(ii) ASSISTANCE.—Assistance pro2 vided by the Administrator under subpara3 graph (A) shall include grants for and

4 technical assistance in—

5 ‘‘(I) developing an annual work

6 plan endorsed by the Council;

7 ‘‘(II) supporting Basin-wide envi8 ronmental monitoring and research to

9 provide technical and scientific infor10 mation necessary to support manage11 ment decisions;

12 ‘‘(III) developing a comprehen13 sive research plan to address the tech14 nical needs of the program; and

15 ‘‘(IV) recommending restoration

16 projects for implementation by the

17 State of Louisiana, parishes, and non18 governmental entities.

19 ‘‘(c) RESTORATION PROJECTS.—In accordance with

20 the management plan, the Administrator shall provide

21 funding and oversight to carry out voluntary restoration

22 projects for the Basin that—

23 ‘‘(1) address human waste problems in the

24 Basin by providing a cost-sharing construction and

25 education program that offers incentives to parishes
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1 and local communities to improve sewage treatment

2 facilities and procedures (including the continuation

3 of funding for the inflow and infiltration projects of

4 Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, Louisiana);

5 ‘‘(2) provide critical assistance to agricultural

6 operators designed to address and curb agricultural

7 runoff into the Basin;

8 ‘‘(3) provide for the rerouting of discharges

9 from selected pumping stations through adjacent

10 wetland, using existing canals and small water con11 trol structures, in order to use natural wetland to

12 filter pollutants from urban stormwater;

13 ‘‘(4) improve Basin water quality—

14 ‘‘(A) by eliminating discharges of raw or

15 partially treated sewage from fishing camps and

16 residences;

17 ‘‘(B) where there are approved municipal

18 or community sewage systems, by providing tie19 ins from those systems for fishing camps and

20 residences; and

21 ‘‘(C) by establishing new sanitation and

22 sewage systems where needed;

23 ‘‘(5) reverse the trend of decreasing acreage of

24 coastal wetland in the Basin by creating new sus25 tainable wetland habitat; and
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1 ‘‘(6) retain the integrity of natural structural

2 elements in the coastal landscape, such as ridges

3 and barrier islands, in order to reduce storm surge

4 impacts to essential habitats and human infrastruc5 ture.

6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

7 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec8 essary, to remain available until expended—

9 ‘‘(1) to continue to provide priority funding for

10 the New Orleans Inflow and Infiltration Project

11 sponsored by the New Orleans Sewerage and Water

12 Board and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; and

13 ‘‘(2) to carry out subsections (b) and (c).’’.

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