Great Lakes Water Protection Act

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit sewage dumping into the Great Lakes, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Great Lakes Water Protection Act 2. Prohibition on sewage dumping into the Great Lakes (a) In general Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1342 (s) Prohibition on sewage dumping into the great lakes (1) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Bypass The term bypass (B) Discharge (i) In general The term discharge (ii) Inclusions The term discharge (C) Great Lakes The term Great Lakes (D) Partially treated sewage The term partially treated sewage (i) is not treated to national secondary treatment standards for wastewater; or (ii) is treated to a level less than the level required by the applicable national pollutant discharge elimination system permit. (E) Treatment facility The term treatment facility (F) Treatment works The term treatment works (2) Prohibition A publicly owned treatment works is prohibited from performing a bypass unless— (A) (i) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage; (ii) there is not a feasible alternative to the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime; and (iii) the treatment works provides notice of the bypass in accordance with this subsection; or (B) the bypass does not cause effluent limitations to be exceeded, and the bypass is for essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of the treatment facility. (3) Limitation The requirement of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) is not satisfied if— (A) adequate back-up equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment to prevent the bypass; and (B) the bypass occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventive maintenance. (4) Immediate notice requirements (A) In general The Administrator shall work with States having publicly owned treatment works subject to the requirements of this subsection to create immediate notice requirements in the event of discharge that provide for the method, contents, and requirements for public availability of the notice. (B) Minimum requirements (i) In general At a minimum, the contents of the notice shall include— (I) the exact dates and times of the discharge; (II) the volume of the discharge; and (III) a description of any public access areas impacted. (ii) Consistency Minimum requirements shall be consistent for all States. (C) Additional requirements The Administrator and States described in subparagraph (A) shall include— (i) follow-up notice requirements that provide a more full description of each event, the cause, and plans to prevent reoccurrence; and (ii) annual publication requirements that list each treatment works from which the Administrator or the State receive a follow-up notice. (D) Timing The notice and publication requirements described in this paragraph shall be implemented not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection. (5) Sewage blending Bypasses prohibited by this section include bypasses resulting in discharges from a publicly owned treatment works that consist of effluent routed around treatment units and thereafter blended together with effluent from treatment units prior to discharge. (6) Implementation As soon as practicable, the Administrator shall establish procedures to ensure that permits issued under this section (or under a State permit program approved under this section) to a publicly owned treatment works include requirements to implement this subsection. (7) Increase in maximum civil penalty for violations occurring after January 1, 2035 Notwithstanding section 309, in the case of a violation of this subsection occurring on or after January 1, 2035, or any violation of a permit limitation or condition implementing this subsection occurring after that date, the maximum civil penalty that shall be assessed for the violation shall be $100,000 per day for each day the violation occurs. (8) Applicability This subsection shall apply to a bypass occurring after the last day of the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection. . (b) Great Lakes Cleanup Fund (1) Establishment Title V of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1361 et seq. (A) by redesignating section 519 ( 33 U.S.C. 1251 (B) by inserting after section 518 ( 33 U.S.C. 1377 519. Establishment of great lakes cleanup fund (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Fund The term Fund (2) Great lakes; great lakes states The terms Great Lakes Great Lakes States (b) Establishment of fund There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund Fund (c) Transfers to fund Effective January 1, 2035, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund amounts equivalent to the penalties collected for violations of section 402(s). (d) Administration of fund The Administrator shall administer the Fund. (e) Use of funds The Administrator shall— (1) make the amounts in the Fund available to the Great Lakes States for use in carrying out programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into the Great Lakes, including habitat protection and wetland restoration; and (2) allocate those amounts among the Great Lakes States based on the proportion that— (A) the amount attributable to a Great Lakes State for penalties collected for violations of section 402(s); bears to (B) the total amount of those penalties attributable to all Great Lakes States. (f) Priority In selecting programs and activities to be funded using amounts made available under this section, a Great Lakes State shall give priority consideration to programs and activities that address violations of section 402(s) resulting in the collection of penalties. . (2) Conforming amendments to State revolving fund program Section 607 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1387 (A) by striking There is (a) In General.—There is (B) by adding at the end the following: (b) Treatment of Great Lakes Cleanup Fund For purposes of this title, amounts made available from the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund under section 519 shall be treated as funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title and as funds made available under this title, except that the funds shall be made available to the Great Lakes States in accordance with section 519. .

Summary: Great Lakes Water Protection Act This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) from discharging untreated or partially treated sewage into the Great Lakes or a tributary of the Great Lakes when the discharge is the result of the POTW intentionally diverting waste streams to bypass any portion of a treatment facility. A bypass is allowed if: (1) it is unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage, there is no feasible alternative, and the treatment works provides notice; or (2) it does not cause effluent (waste) limitations to be exceeded and is for essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of the treatment facility. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must work with relevant states to create requirements for providing immediate notice to the public about discharges. The EPA must establish procedures to ensure that permits issued to POTWs under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System include requirements to comply with this bill. This bill establishes a maximum civil penalty of $100,000 per day for violations of the bill occurring on or after January 1, 2035. The penalties must be deposited into the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund, which is established by this bill. The Fund must be used for improving wastewater discharges.