II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2995 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry 

out a pilot program to work with municipalities that are seeking to 

develop and implement integrated plans to meet wastewater and 

stormwater obligations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill; 

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

Public Works 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to carry out a pilot program to work with municipalities that are seeking to develop and implement integrated plans to meet wastewater and stormwater obligations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 

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 ‘‘Clean Water Compli5 ance and Affordability Act’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2995 IS

1 SEC. 2. INTEGRATED MUNICIPAL STORMWATER AND 

2 WASTEWATER APPROACH FRAMEWORK. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the first 5 fiscal years begin4 ning after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis5 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency (referred 

6 to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’), in coordination 

7 with appropriate State, local, and regional authorities, 

8 shall carry out a pilot program under which the Adminis9 trator shall work cooperatively with and facilitate the ef10 forts of eligible municipalities to develop and implement 

11 integrated plans to meet wastewater and stormwater obli12 gations of the eligible municipalities under the Federal 

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

14 a more cost-effective and flexible manner. 

15 (b) FRAMEWORK.—The Administrator shall carry out 

16 the pilot program in a manner that is consistent with the 

17 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Ap18 proach Framework issued by the Environmental Protec19 tion Agency and dated May 2012. 

20 (c) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE MUNICIPALITIES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con22 sultation with States that have approved National 

23 Pollutant Discharge Elimination System programs, 

24 shall select not less than 15 eligible municipalities to 

25 participate in the pilot program. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2995 IS

1 (2) ELIGIBLE MUNICIPALITY.—An eligible mu2 nicipality is a county, city, town, township, or sub3 division of a State or local government that— 

4 (A) qualifies as a National Pollutant Dis5 charge Elimination System permit holder or 

6 designee; or 

7 (B) is a party to an administrative order, 

8 administrative consent agreement, or judicial 

9 consent decree to comply with the requirements 

10 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

11 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

12 (3) SELECTION FACTORS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In selecting the eligible 

14 municipalities to participate in the pilot pro15 gram, the Administrator shall give priority to— 

16 (i) eligible municipalities that are op17 erating under an administrative order, ad18 ministrative consent agreement, or judicial 

19 consent decree to comply with the require20 ments of the Federal Water Pollution Con21 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

22 (ii) eligible municipalities that are af23 fected by affordability constraints in plan24 ning and implementing control measures to 

25 address wet weather discharges from 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2995 IS

1 wastewater and stormwater facilities of the 

2 eligible municipalities; and 

3 (iii) eligible municipalities with a his4 tory of knowledgeable, detailed, and com5 prehensive efforts to develop integrated 

6 and adaptive clean water management 

7 practices. 

8 (B) USE OF ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AP9 PROACHES.—In selecting eligible municipalities 

10 to participate in the pilot program, the Admin11 istrator may give priority to an eligible munici12 pality that is seeking to develop and implement 

13 an integrated plan that includes adaptive ap14 proaches to account for changed or future un15 certain circumstances, including, at a min16 imum— 

17 (i) the use of new innovative technical 

18 or institutional approaches; and 

19 (ii) the ability to adapt the integrated 

20 plan in response to new regulatory require21 ments and reductions in financial capa22 bility. 

23 (d) APPROVAL OF INTEGRATED PLANS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In approving the integrated 

25 plan of an eligible municipality under the pilot proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Dec 18, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2995.IS S2995

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2995 IS

1 gram established under subsection (a), the Adminis2 trator shall— 

3 (A) account for the financial capability of 

4 the eligible municipality to adequately address 

5 the requirements of the Federal Water Pollu6 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) that 

7 apply to the eligible municipality; 

8 (B) prioritize the obligations of the eligible 

9 municipality under the Federal Water Pollution 

10 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) according 

11 to the most cost-effective and environmentally 

12 beneficial outcomes; 

13 (C) account for the maintenance, oper14 ational, and regulatory obligations of the eligi15 ble municipality; and 

16 (D) enable the eligible municipality to im17 plement innovative and flexible approaches to 

18 meet the obligations of the eligible municipality 

19 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

20 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

21 (2) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—In carrying 

22 out the pilot program established under subsection 

23 (a), the Administrator may, in full coordination and 

24 mutual agreement with an eligible municipality se25 lected to participate in the pilot program— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2995 IS

1 (A) extend the allowable national pollutant 

2 discharge elimination system permit term under 

3 section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution 

4 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) to a maximum of 

5 25 years, and make corresponding changes to 

6 any associated implementation schedule; 

7 (B) modify the implementation terms of a 

8 consent decree entered into by the eligible mu9 nicipality with the Administrator pursuant to 

10 that Act; and 

11 (C) provide additional regulatory flexibility 

12 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

13 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) in approving and im14 plementing an integrated plan that includes 

15 adaptive approaches in order to encourage the 

16 innovation integral to such approaches. 

17 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year 

19 thereafter for 5 years, the Administrator shall submit to 

20 Congress a report on the results of the pilot program es21 tablished under subsection (a), including a description of 

22 the specific outcomes expected to be achieved that will re23 duce the costs of complying with the requirements of the 

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

25 seq.) for— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2995 IS

1 (1) eligible municipalities participating in the 

2 pilot program; and 

3 (2) eligible municipalities that are similarly sit4 uated but not participating in the pilot program. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS