I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4739 

To provide assistance to communities affected by total maximum daily loads 

established by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2014 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To provide assistance to communities affected by total maximum daily loads established by the Administrator of 

the Environmental Protection Agency, 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 ‘‘Impaired Waters Im5 provement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) COVERED TMDL.—The term ‘‘covered 

5 TMDL’’ means a total maximum daily load for ni6 trogen, phosphorus, or sediment established under 

7 section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Con8 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(d)). 

9 (3) COVERED TMDL JURISDICTION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

11 TMDL jurisdiction’’ means a geographic area 

12 that is subject to a covered TMDL. 

13 (B) INCLUSION OF CHESAPEAKE BAY.— 

14 The term ‘‘covered TMDL jurisdiction’’ in15 cludes the geographic area subject to total max16 imum daily load for pollutants for the Chesa17 peake Bay and its tidal tributaries established 

18 by the Administrator on December 29, 2010, 

19 and noticed at 76 Fed. Reg. 549 (January 5, 

20 2011). 

21 (4) PUBLICLY OWNED STORMWATER MANAGE22 MENT PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘publicly owned 

23 stormwater management practices’’ means tech24 niques for managing and treating rainwater runoff 

25 that are the responsibility of the public sector, inVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:14 May 30, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4739.IH H4739

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1 cluding, and by order of preference, practices 

2 which— 

3 (A) utilize or mimic natural infiltration of 

4 rainwater into the ground; 

5 (B) hold and treat runoff by allowing plant 

6 materials to take up pollutants; and 

7 (C) capture runoff and hold it for a period 

8 of time sufficient to allow pollutants to settle 

9 out or evaporate, and which substantially re10 duce the volume of runoff in local waters during 

11 peak runoff periods. 

12 (5) TREATMENT WORKS.—The term ‘‘treatment 

13 works’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

14 212 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

15 U.S.C. 1292). 

16 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO ASSIST COVERED TMDL JURISDIC17 TIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi19 ronmental Protection Agency may make grants to the 

20 owner or operator of— 

21 (1) a publicly owned treatment works serving a 

22 covered TMDL jurisdiction; 

23 (2) publicly owned storm water management 

24 practices serving a covered TMDL jurisdiction; or 


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1 (3) a privately owned farm implementing meth2 ods to reduce discharges of nitrogen, phosphorus, or 

3 sediment in a covered TMDL jurisdiction. 

4 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 

6 under this section, an owner or operator referred to 

7 in subsection (a) shall submit to the Administrator 

8 an application at such time, in such form, and con9 taining such information as the Administrator may 

10 require. 

11 (2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The application, 

12 at a minimum, shall contain a description of how the 

13 amounts of the grant will be used to assist the appli14 cant in meeting a covered TMDL. 

15 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

17 the Administrator shall award grants to applicants 

18 under this section on a competitive basis. 

19 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants to 

20 applicants under this section, the Administrator 

21 shall consider— 

22 (A) the demonstrated need of the applicant 

23 for the grant; and 

24 (B) with respect to the project to be fund25 ed using the grant— 


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1 (i) the effectiveness of any tech2 nologies that will be used; 

3 (ii) the ecological sensitivity of the ge4 ographic area involved; and 

5 (iii) whether the use of existing facili6 ties, if any, will be maximized. 

7 (d) USE OF GRANTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant under 

9 this section shall use the amounts of the grant to 

10 implement methods to reduce discharges of nitrogen, 

11 phosphorus, and sediment— 

12 (A) using proven technology and practices; 

13 or 

14 (B) using an innovative practice, subject to 

15 a determination by the Administrator that the 

16 innovative practice is reasonably expected to re17 duce the discharges. 

18 (2) GRANTS TO FARMS.— 

19 (A) ENGINEERING OR CONSULTATION

20 WORK FOR WATER STORAGE PROJECTS.—In the 

21 case of a grant made to an owner or operator 

22 referred to in subsection (a)(3), amounts of the 

23 grant may be used for engineering or consulta24 tion work in designing a water storage project 

25 if— 


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1 (i) the project complies with the limi2 tation in paragraph (3); and 

3 (ii) the project is completed within 5 

4 years of the date of receipt of the grant. 

5 (B) REPAYMENT OF CERTAIN GRANT

6 AMOUNTS.—The Administrator shall require re7 payment of a grant made to carry out a project 

8 described in subparagraph (A) if the project is 

9 not completed within 5 years of the date of re10 ceipt of the grant. 

11 (3) LIMITATION.—A recipient of a grant under 

12 this section may not use the amounts of the grant— 

13 (A) to pay the salary of any individual who 

14 is employed by the recipient as of the date of 

15 receipt of the grant; or 

16 (B) to pay the salary of any individual 

17 hired by the recipient after that date unless— 

18 (i) the individual is an expert in the 

19 field of reducing discharges from treatment 

20 works; and 

21 (ii) the recipient can demonstrate, to 

22 the satisfaction of the Administrator, that 

23 the individual will assist in meeting a cov24 ered TMDL. 


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1 (e) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Administrator may not 

2 make grants under this section to a grant recipient in an 

3 amount that exceeds $2,000,000 in a fiscal year. 

4 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

5 of a program or activity carried out using amounts from 

6 a grant received under this section may not exceed two7 thirds of the cost of the program or activity. 

8 SEC. 4. IMPAIRED WATERS IMPROVEMENT FUND. 

9 (a) INCREASE IN CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall pre11 scribe by regulation an increase in the amount of a 

12 civil penalty assessed for a violation of the Federal 

13 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et 

14 seq.). 

15 (2) AMOUNT OF INCREASE.—The amount of 

16 the increase shall be 5 percent of the civil penalty 

17 amount determined under that Act for the violation. 

18 (3) APPLICABILITY.—The regulations shall 

19 apply the increased civil penalty amount only to vio20 lations occurring after the date of enactment of this 

21 Act. 

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPAIRED WATERS IM23 PROVEMENT FUND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

2 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be 

3 known as the Impaired Waters Improvement Fund. 

4 (2) TRANSFER TO FUND.—There are hereby 

5 appropriated to the Impaired Waters Improvement 

6 Fund for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019 

7 amounts equivalent to amounts received in the 

8 Treasury that are attributable to increases in civil 

9 penalty amounts assessed pursuant to subsection (a) 

10 or $100,000,000, whichever is less. 

11 (3) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Impaired 

12 Waters Improvement Fund shall be available, as 

13 provided in appropriations Acts, for making expendi14 tures to carry out section 3. 

Æ 


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