I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3789

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to improve the quality

of coastal recreation waters, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 11, 1996

Mr. PALLONE 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 improve the quality of coastal recreation waters, 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 ‘‘Beaches Environ5 mental Assessment, Closure, and Health Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Nation’s beaches are a valuable public

9 resource used for recreation by millions of people an10 nually;
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1 (2) the beaches of coastal States are hosts to

2 many out-of-State and international visitors;

3 (3) tourism in the coastal zone generates bil4 lions of dollars annually;

5 (4) increased population has contributed to the

6 decline in the environmental quality of coastal wa7 ters;

8 (5) pollution in coastal waters is not restricted

9 by State and other political boundaries;

10 (6) each coastal State has its own method of

11 testing the quality of its coastal recreation waters,

12 providing varying degrees of protection to the public;

13 and

14 (7) the adoption of standards by coastal States

15 for monitoring the quality of coastal recreation wa16 ters, and the posting of signs at beaches notifying

17 the public during periods when the standards are ex18 ceeded, would enhance public health and safety.

19 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to require

20 uniform procedures for beach testing and monitoring to

21 protect public safety and improve the environmental qual22 ity of coastal recreation waters.
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1 SEC. 3. WATER QUALITY CRITERIA AND STANDARDS.

2 (a) ISSUANCE OF CRITERIA.—Section 304(a) of the

3 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(a))

4 is amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(9) COASTAL RECREATION WATERS.—(A) The

6 Administrator, after consultation with appropriate

7 Federal and State agencies and other interested per8 sons, shall issue within 18 months after the effective

9 date of this paragraph (and review and revise from

10 time to time thereafter, but in no event less than

11 once every 5 years) water quality criteria for patho12 gens in coastal recreation waters. Such criteria

13 shall—

14 ‘‘(i) be based on the best available sci15 entific information;

16 ‘‘(ii) be sufficient to protect public health

17 and safety in case of any reasonably anticipated

18 exposure to pollutants as a result of swimming,

19 bathing, or other body contact activities; and

20 ‘‘(iii) include specific numeric criteria cal21 culated to reflect public health risks from short22 term increases in pathogens in coastal recre23 ation waters resulting from rainfall, malfunc24 tions of wastewater treatment works, and other

25 causes.
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1 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term

2 ‘coastal recreation waters’ means Great Lakes and

3 marine coastal waters commonly used by the public

4 for swimming, bathing, or other similar primary con5 tact purposes.’’.

6 (b) STANDARDS.—

7 (1) ADOPTION BY STATES.—A State shall adopt

8 water quality standards for coastal recreation waters

9 which, at a minimum, are consistent with the cri10 teria published by the Administrator under section

11 304(a)(9) of the Federal Water Pollution Control

12 Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(a)(9)), as amended by this Act,

13 not later than 3 years following the date of such

14 publication. Such water quality standards shall be

15 developed in accordance with the requirements of

16 section 303(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Con17 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(c)). A State shall incor18 porate such standards into all appropriate programs

19 into which such State would incorporate other water

20 quality standards adopted under section 303(c) of

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

22 1313(c)).

23 (2) FAILURE OF STATES TO ADOPT.—If a State

24 has not complied with paragraph (1) by the last day

25 of the 3-year period beginning on the date of publi-
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1 cation of criteria under section 304(a)(9) of the

2 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.

3 1314(a)(9)), as amended by this Act, the water

4 quality criteria issued by the Administrator under

5 such section shall become applicable as the water

6 quality standards for coastal recreational waters for

7 the State. The State shall use the standards issued

8 by the Administrator in implementing all programs

9 for which water quality standards for coastal recre10 ation waters are used.

11 SEC. 4. COASTAL BEACH WATER QUALITY MONITORING.

12 Title IV of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

13 (33 U.S.C. 1341–1345) is amended by adding at the end

14 thereof the following new section:

15 ‘‘SEC. 406. COASTAL BEACH WATER QUALITY MONITORING.

16 ‘‘(a) MONITORING.—Not later than 9 months after

17 the date on which the Administrator publishes revised

18 water quality criteria for coastal recreation waters under

19 section 304(a)(9), the Administrator shall publish regula20 tions specifying methods to be used by States to monitor

21 coastal recreation waters, during periods of use by the

22 public, for compliance with applicable water quality stand23 ards for those waters and protection of the public safety.

24 Monitoring requirements established pursuant to this sub25 section shall, at a minimum—
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1 ‘‘(1) specify the frequency of monitoring based

2 on the periods of recreational use of such waters;

3 ‘‘(2) specify the frequency of monitoring based

4 on the extent and degree of use during such periods;

5 ‘‘(3) specify the frequency of monitoring based

6 on the proximity of coastal recreation waters to pol7 lution sources;

8 ‘‘(4) specify methods for detecting levels of

9 pathogens and for identifying short-term increases

10 in pathogens in coastal recreation waters; and

11 ‘‘(5) specify the conditions and procedures

12 under which discrete areas of coastal recreation wa13 ters may be exempted by the Administrator from the

14 monitoring requirements of this subsection, if the

15 Administrator determines that an exemption will not

16 impair—

17 ‘‘(A) compliance with the applicable water

18 quality standards for those waters; and

19 ‘‘(B) protection of the public safety.

20 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Regulations

21 published pursuant to subsection (a) shall require States

22 to notify local governments and the public of violations

23 of applicable water quality standards for State coastal

24 recreation waters. Notification pursuant to this subsection

25 shall include, at a minimum—
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1 ‘‘(1) prompt communication of the occurrence,

2 nature, and extent of such a violation, to a des3 ignated official of a local government having juris4 diction over land adjoining the coastal recreation wa5 ters for which a violation is identified; and

6 ‘‘(2) posting of signs, for the period during

7 which the violation continues, sufficient to give no8 tice to the public of a violation of an applicable

9 water quality standard for such waters and the po10 tential risks associated with body contact recreation

11 in such waters.

12 ‘‘(c) FLOATABLE MATERIALS MONITORING PROCE13 DURES.—The Administrator shall—

14 ‘‘(1) issue guidance on uniform assessment and

15 monitoring procedures for floatable materials in

16 coastal recreation waters; and

17 ‘‘(2) specify the conditions under which the

18 presence of floatable material shall constitute a

19 threat to public health and safety.

20 ‘‘(d) DELEGATION OF RESPONSIBILITY.—A State

21 may delegate responsibility for monitoring and posting of

22 coastal recreation waters pursuant to this section to local

23 government authorities.

24 ‘‘(e) REVIEW AND REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—The

25 Administrator shall review and revise regulations pub-
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1 lished pursuant to this section periodically, but in no event

2 less than once every 5 years.

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,

4 the following definitions apply:

5 ‘‘(1) COASTAL RECREATION WATERS.—The

6 term ‘coastal recreation waters’ means Great Lakes

7 and marine coastal waters commonly used by the

8 public for swimming, bathing, or other similar body

9 contact purposes.

10 ‘‘(2) FLOATABLE MATERIALS.—The term ‘float11 able materials’ means any matter that may float or

12 remain suspended in the water column and includes

13 plastic, aluminum cans, wood, bottles, and paper

14 products.’’.

15 SEC. 5. STUDIES TO IDENTIFY INDICATORS OF HUMAN-SPE16 CIFIC PATHOGENS IN COASTAL RECREATION

17 WATERS.

18 (a) STUDIES.—The Administrator, in cooperation

19 with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and

20 Atmosphere, shall conduct studies to provide additional in21 formation to the current base of knowledge for use for

22 developing better indicators for directly detecting in coast23 al recreation waters the presence of bacteria and viruses

24 which are harmful to human health.
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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date

2 of the enactment of this Act, and periodically thereafter,

3 the Administrator shall submit to the Congress a report

4 describing the findings of the studies under this section,

5 including—

6 (1) recommendations concerning the need for

7 additional numerical limits or conditions and other

8 actions needed to improve the quality of coastal

9 recreation waters;

10 (2) a description of the amounts and types of

11 floatable materials in coastal waters and on coastal

12 beaches and of recent trends in the amounts and

13 types of such floatable materials; and

14 (3) an evaluation of State efforts to implement

15 this Act, including the amendments made by this

16 Act.

17 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO STATES.

18 (a) GRANTS.—The Administrator may make grants

19 to States for use in fulfilling requirements established pur20 suant to section 3 and 4.

21 (b) COST SHARING.—The total amount of grants to

22 a State under this section for a fiscal year shall not exceed

23 50 percent of the cost to the State of implementing re24 quirements established pursuant to section 3 and 4.
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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency.

6 (2) COASTAL RECREATION WATERS.—The term

7 ‘‘coastal recreation waters’’ means Great Lakes and

8 marine coastal waters commonly used by the public

9 for swimming, bathing, or other similar body contact

10 purposes.

11 (3) FLOATABLE MATERIALS.—The term ‘‘float12 able materials’’ means any matter that may float or

13 remain suspended in the water column and includes

14 plastic, aluminum cans, wood, bottles, and paper

15 products.

16 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin18 istrator—

19 (1) for use in making grants to States under

20 section 6 not more than $4,000,000 for each of the

21 fiscal years 1997 and 1998; and

22 (2) for carrying out the other provisions of this

23 Act not more than $1,500,000 for each of the fiscal

24 years 1997 and 1998.

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