I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1720 

To modify permitting requirements with respect to the discharge of any 

pollutant from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant in certain 

circumstances, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. ISSA, and Ms. JACOBS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To modify permitting requirements with respect to the discharge of any pollutant from the Point Loma Wastewater 

Treatment Plant in certain circumstances, 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 ‘‘Ocean Pollution Re5 duction Act II’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SAN DIEGO POINT LOMA PERMITTING REQUIRE2 MENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision of 

4 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 

5 et seq.), the Administrator may issue a permit under sec6 tion 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 1342) for a discharge from the Point Loma Plant 

8 into marine waters that requires compliance with the re9 quirements described in subsection (b). 

10 (b) CONDITIONS.—A permit issued under this section 

11 shall require— 

12 (1) maintenance of the currently designed deep 

13 ocean outfall from the Point Loma Plant with a dis14 charge depth of not less than 300 feet and distance 

15 from the shore of not less than 4 miles; 

16 (2) as applicable to the term of the permit, dis17 charge of not more than 12,000 metric tons of total 

18 suspended solids per year commencing on the date 

19 of enactment of this section, not more than 11,500 

20 metric tons of total suspended solids per year com21 mencing on December 31, 2027, and not more than 

22 9,942 metric tons of total suspended solids per year 

23 commencing on December 31, 2029; 

24 (3) discharge of not more than 60 milligrams 

25 per liter of total suspended solids, calculated as a 

26 30-day average; 


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1 (4) removal of not less than 80 percent of total 

2 suspended solids on a monthly average and not less 

3 than 58 percent of biochemical oxygen demand on 

4 an annual average, taking into account removal oc5 curring at all treatment processes for wastewater 

6 upstream from and at the Point Loma Plant; 

7 (5) attainment of all other effluent limitations 

8 of secondary treatment as determined by the Admin9 istrator pursuant to section 304(d)(1) of the Federal 

10 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(d)(1)), 

11 other than any requirements otherwise applicable to 

12 the discharge of biochemical oxygen demand and 

13 total suspended solids; 

14 (6) compliance with the requirements applicable 

15 to Federal issuance of a permit under section 402 

16 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, includ17 ing State concurrence consistent with section 401 of 

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

19 1341) and ocean discharge criteria evaluation pursu20 ant to section 403 of the Federal Water Pollution 

21 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1343); 

22 (7) implementation of the pretreatment pro23 gram requirements of paragraphs (5) and (6) of sec24 tion 301(h) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

25 Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(h)) in addition to the requireVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Apr 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1720.IH H1720

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1 ments of section 402(b)(8) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 

2 1342(b)(8)); 

3 (8) that the applicant provide 10 consecutive 

4 years of ocean monitoring data and analysis for the 

5 period immediately preceding the date of each appli6 cation for a permit under this section sufficient to 

7 demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Administrator 

8 that the discharge of pollutants pursuant to a per9 mit issued under this section will meet the require10 ments of section 301(h)(2) of the Federal Water 

11 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(h)(2)) and 

12 that the applicant has established and will maintain 

13 throughout the permit term an ocean monitoring 

14 program that meets or exceeds the requirements of 

15 section 301(h)(3) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 1311(h)(3)); and 

17 (9) to the extent potable reuse is permitted by 

18 Federal and State regulatory agencies, that the ap19 plicant demonstrate that at least 83,000,000 gallons 

20 per day on an annual average of water suitable for 

21 potable reuse will be produced by December 31, 

22 2037, taking into account production of water suit23 able for potable reuse occurring at all treatment 

24 processes for wastewater upstream from and at the 

25 Point Loma Plant. 


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1 (c) MILESTONES.—The Administrator shall deter2 mine development milestones necessary to ensure compli3 ance with this section and include such milestones as con4 ditions in each permit issued under this section before De5 cember 31, 2037. 

6 (d) SECONDARY TREATMENT.—Nothing in this sec7 tion prevents the applicant from alternatively submitting 

8 an application for the Point Loma Plant that complies 

9 with secondary treatment pursuant to section 

10 301(b)(1)(B) and section 402 of the Federal Water Pollu11 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(b)(1)(B); 33 U.S.C. 

12 1342). 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ16 mental Protection Agency. 

17 (2) BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND.—The 

18 term ‘‘biochemical oxygen demand’’ means biological 

19 oxygen demand, as such term is used in the Federal 

20 Water Pollution Control Act. 

21 (3) POINT LOMA PLANT.—The term ‘‘Point 

22 Loma Plant’’ means the Point Loma Wastewater 

23 Treatment Plant owned by the City of San Diego on 

24 the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

2 of California. 

Æ 


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