II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 518 

To require States to establish highway stormwater management programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require States to establish highway stormwater 

management programs. 

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 ‘‘Highway Runoff Man5 agement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY RUNOFF MANAGEMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 23, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 518 IS

1 ‘‘§ 330. Federal-aid highway runoff management pro2 gram 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘covered 

5 project’ means a reconstruction, rehabilitation, re6 configuration, renovation, major resurfacing, or new 

7 construction project on a Federal-aid highway car8 ried out under this title that results in— 

9 ‘‘(A) a 10-percent or greater increase in 

10 impervious surface of the aerial extent within 

11 the right-of-way of the project limit on a Fed12 eral-aid highway or associated facility; or 

13 ‘‘(B) an increase of 1 acre or more in im14 pervious surface coverage. 

15 ‘‘(2) EROSIVE FORCE.—The term ‘erosive force’ 

16 means the flowrate within a stream or channel in 

17 which channel bed or bank material becomes de18 tached, which in most cases is less than or equal to 

19 the flowrate produced by the 2-year storm event. 

20 ‘‘(3) HIGHWAY RUNOFF.—The term ‘highway 

21 runoff ’, with respect to a Federal-aid highway, asso22 ciated facility, or management measure retrofit 

23 project, means a discharge of peak flow rate or vol24 ume of runoff that exceeds flows generated under 

25 preproject conditions. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 518 IS

1 ‘‘(4) IMPACTED HYDROLOGY.—The term ‘im2 pacted hydrology’ means stormwater runoff gen3 erated from all areas within the site limits of a cov4 ered project. 

5 ‘‘(5) MANAGEMENT MEASURE.—The term 

6 ‘management measure’ means a program, structural 

7 or nonstructural management practice, operational 

8 procedure, or policy on or off the project site that 

9 is intended to prevent, reduce, or control highway 

10 runoff. 

11 ‘‘(b) STATE HIGHWAY STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

12 PROGRAMS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of this section, each State 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) develop a process for analyzing the 

17 erosive force of highway runoff generated from 

18 covered projects; and 

19 ‘‘(B) apply management measures to main20 tain or restore impacted hydrology associated 

21 with highway runoff from covered projects. 

22 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The management measures 

23 established under paragraph (1) may include, as the 

24 State determines to be appropriate, management 

25 measures that— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 518 IS

1 ‘‘(A) minimize the erosive force of highway 

2 runoff from a covered project on a channel bed 

3 or bank of receiving water by managing high4 way runoff within the area of the covered 

5 project; 

6 ‘‘(B) manage impacted hydrology in such a 

7 manner that the highway runoff generated by a 

8 covered project is below the erosive force flow 

9 and volume; 

10 ‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, 

11 seek to address the impact of the erosive force 

12 of hydrologic events that have the potential to 

13 create or exacerbate downstream channel ero14 sion, including excess pier and abutment scour 

15 at bridges and channel downcutting and bank 

16 failure of streams adjacent to highway embank17 ments; 

18 ‘‘(D) ensure that the highway runoff from 

19 the post-construction condition does not in20 crease the risk of channel erosion relative to the 

21 preproject condition; and 

22 ‘‘(E) employ simplified approaches to de23 termining the erosive force of highway runoff 

24 generated from covered projects, such as a re25 gionalized analysis of streams within a State. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 518 IS

1 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec4 retary, in consultation with the heads of other rel5 evant Federal agencies, shall publish guidance to as6 sist States in carrying out this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF GUIDANCE.—The guidance 

8 shall include guidelines and technical assistance for 

9 the establishment of State management measures 

10 that will be used to assist in avoiding, minimizing, 

11 and managing highway runoff from covered projects, 

12 including guidelines to help States integrate the 

13 planning, selection, design, and long-term operation 

14 and maintenance of management measures con15 sistent with the design standards in the overall 

16 project planning process. 

17 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL.—The Secretary, in consulta18 tion with the heads of other relevant Federal agen19 cies, shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) review the management measures 

21 program of each State; and 

22 ‘‘(B) approve such a program, if the pro23 gram meets the requirements of subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(4) UPDATES.—Not later than 5 years after 

25 the date of publication of the guidance under this 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 518 IS

1 subsection, and not less frequently than once every 

2 5 years thereafter— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Secretary, in consultation with 

4 the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, 

5 shall update the guidance, as applicable; and 

6 ‘‘(B) each State, as applicable, shall up7 date the management measures program of the 

8 State in accordance with the updated guidance. 

9 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2)(A), each State shall submit to the Sec12 retary an annual report that describes the activities 

13 carried out under the highway stormwater manage14 ment program of the State, including a description 

15 of any reductions of stormwater runoff achieved as 

16 a result of covered projects carried out by the State 

17 after the date of enactment of this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS UNDER PER19 MIT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State shall not be 

21 required to submit an annual report described 

22 in paragraph (1) if the State— 

23 ‘‘(i) is operating Federal-aid highways 

24 in the State in a post-construction condi25 tion in accordance with a permit issued 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 518 IS

1 under the Federal Water Pollution Control 

2 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(ii) is subject to an annual reporting 

4 requirement under such a permit (regard5 less of whether the permitting authority is 

6 a Federal or State agency); and 

7 ‘‘(iii) carries out a covered project 

8 with respect to a Federal-aid highway in 

9 the State described in clause (i). 

10 ‘‘(B) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT.—A Fed11 eral or State permitting authority that receives 

12 an annual report described in subparagraph 

13 (A)(ii) shall, on receipt of such a report, trans14 mit a copy of the report to the Secretary.’’. 

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap16 ter 3 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add17 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘330. Federal-aid highway runoff management program.’’. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS