I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 568

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 

for nutrient removal technologies to States in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. 

GREENWOOD, Mr. FORBES, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

WOLF, Mr. GOODLATTE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, and Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN) 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 provide assistance for nutrient removal technologies to 

States in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Wa5 tershed Nutrient Removal Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) nutrient pollution from point sources and 

2 nonpoint sources continues to be the most signifi3 cant water quality problem in the Chesapeake Bay 

4 watershed; 

5 (2) a key commitment of the Chesapeake 2000 

6 agreement, an interstate agreement among the Ad7 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

8 the Chesapeake Bay Commission, the District of Co9 lumbia, and the States of Maryland, Virginia, and 

10 Pennsylvania, is to achieve the goal of correcting the 

11 nutrient-related problems in the Chesapeake Bay by 

12 2010; 

13 (3) by correcting those problems, the Chesa14 peake Bay and its tidal tributaries may be removed 

15 from the list of impaired bodies of water designated 

16 by the Administrator under section 303(d) of the 

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

18 1313(d)); 

19 (4) nearly 300 major sewage treatment plants 

20 located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed annually 

21 discharge approximately 60,000,000 pounds of nitro22 gen, or the equivalent of 20 percent of the total ni23 trogen load, into the Chesapeake Bay; and 

24 (5) nutrient removal technology is 1 of the most 

25 reliable, cost-effective, and direct methods for reduc-
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1 ing the flow of nitrogen from point sources into the 

2 Chesapeake Bay. 

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

4 (1) to authorize the Administrator of the Envi5 ronmental Protection Agency to provide financial as6 sistance to States and municipalities for use in up7 grading publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants 

8 in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with nutrient re9 moval technologies; and 

10 (2) to further the goal of restoring the water 

11 quality of the Chesapeake Bay to conditions that are 

12 protective of human health and aquatic living re13 sources. 

14 SEC. 3. SEWAGE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

19 ‘‘SEC. 701. SEWAGE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PRO20 GRAM. 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—In this 

22 section, the term ‘eligible facility’ means a municipal 

23 wastewater treatment plant that—

24 ‘‘(1) as of the date of enactment of this title, 

25 has a permitted design capacity to treat an annual 
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1 average of at least 500,000 gallons of wastewater 

2 per day; and 

3 ‘‘(2) is located within the Chesapeake Bay wa4 tershed in any of the States of Delaware, Maryland, 

5 New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia 

6 or in the District of Columbia. 

7 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this title, the Admin10 istrator shall establish a program within the Envi11 ronmental Protection Agency to provide grants to 

12 States and municipalities to upgrade eligible facili13 ties with nutrient removal technologies. 

14 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing a grant under 

15 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall—

16 ‘‘(A) consult with the Chesapeake Bay 

17 Program Office; 

18 ‘‘(B) give priority to eligible facilities at 

19 which nutrient removal upgrades would—

20 ‘‘(i) produce the greatest nutrient load 

21 reductions at points of discharge; 

22 ‘‘(ii) result in the greatest environ23 mental benefits to local bodies of water 

24 surrounding, and the main stem of, the 

25 Chesapeake Bay; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) take into consideration the geo2 graphic distribution of the grants. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of an ap5 plication from a State or municipality for a 

6 grant under this section, if the Administrator 

7 approves the request, the Administrator shall 

8 transfer to the State or municipality the 

9 amount of assistance requested. 

10 ‘‘(B) FORM.—An application submitted by 

11 a State or municipality under subparagraph (A) 

12 shall be in such form and shall include such in13 formation as the Administrator may prescribe. 

14 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or municipality 

15 that receives a grant under this section shall use the 

16 grant to upgrade eligible facilities with nutrient re17 moval technologies that are designed to reduce total 

18 nitrogen in discharged wastewater to an average an19 nual concentration of 3 milligrams per liter. 

20 ‘‘(5) COST SHARING.—

21 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

22 share of the cost of upgrading any eligible facil23 ity described in paragraph (1) using funds pro24 vided under this section shall not exceed 55 per25 cent. 
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1 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non2 Federal share of the costs of upgrading any eli3 gible facility described in paragraph (1) using 

4 funds provided under this section may be pro5 vided in the form of funds made available to a 

6 State or municipality under—

7 ‘‘(i) any provision of this Act other 

8 than this section (including funds made 

9 available from a State revolving fund es10 tablished under title VI); or 

11 ‘‘(ii) any other Federal or State law. 

12 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

14 appropriated to carry out this section $132,000,000 

15 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008. Such 

16 sums shall remain available until expended. 

17 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Adminis18 trator may use not to exceed 4 percent of any 

19 amount made available under paragraph (1) to pay 

20 administrative costs incurred in carrying out this 

21 section.’’.

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