I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4652 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 
for programs and activities to protect and restore the water quality 
of the Columbia River Basin, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 23, 2010 
Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. WU, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. MCDERMOTT, and 
Mr. INSLEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to pro-
vide assistance for programs and activities to protect 
and restore the water quality of the Columbia River 
Basin, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Columbia River Res-
toration Act of 2010’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Columbia River is the largest river in 
the Pacific Northwest and the fourth largest river in 
the United States by volume. The river is 1,243 
miles long, and its drainage basin includes 259,000 
square miles, extending into 7 States and British 
Columbia, Canada, and including all or part of 5 na-
tional parks, the Columbia River Gorge National 
Scenic Area, and the Hells Canyon National Recre-
ation Area. 
(2) The Columbia River Basin and its tribu-
taries provide significant ecological and economic 
benefits to the Pacific Northwest and the entire 
United States. Traditionally, the Columbia River 
Basin and its tributaries were the largest salmon 
producing river system in the world, with annual re-
turns peaking at as many as 30 million fish. The 
Columbia River drainage basin includes more than 6 
million acres of irrigated agricultural land, and its 
14 hydroelectric dams, combined with additional 
dams on its tributaries, produce more hydroelectric 
power than any other North American river. 
(3) The Lower Columbia River Estuary 
stretches 146 miles from the Bonneville Dam to the 
mouth of the Pacific Ocean, and much of this area 
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is degraded. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 
salmon tissue and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons 
(PAHs) in salmon prey exceed estimated thresholds 
for delayed mortality, increased disease suscepti-
bility, and reduced growth. Legacy contaminants 
(DDT and PCBs) banned in the 1970s are still de-
tected in river water, sediments, and juvenile Chi-
nook salmon. Several pesticides have been detected, 
including atrazine and simazine, which can affect 
salmon behavior or act as hormone disruptors. 
Emerging contaminants, such as hormone disruptors 
from pharmaceutical and personal care products, 
have been found in river water and juvenile male 
salmon. These contaminants may impair salmon 
growth, health, and reproduction. 
(4) The Middle and Upper Columbia River 
Basin includes 1,050 miles of the mainstem Colum-
bia River upstream of the Bonneville Dam, including 
the 1,040 miles of its largest tributary, the Snake 
River, and all of the tributaries to both rivers. The 
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Colum-
bia River Basin Fish Contaminant Survey detected 
the presence of 92 priority pollutants, including 
PCBs, dioxins, furans, arsenic, mercury, and DDE 
(a breakdown product of DDT), in fish that are con-
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sumed by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm 
Springs, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Nez Perce 
Tribe, as well as by other people consuming fish 
throughout the Columbia River Basin. A fish con-
sumption survey by the Columbia River Intertribal 
Fish Commission showed that tribal members were 
eating 6 to 11 times more fish than EPA’s esti-
mated national average. The nuclear and toxic con-
tamination at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation pre-
sents an ongoing risk of contamination in the Middle 
Columbia Basin. Sampling of sediments by the EPA 
in 2004 documented widespread presence of toxic 
flame retardants known as polyrominated diphenyl 
ethers. 
(5) Contamination of the Middle and Upper Co-
lumbia River Basin has a direct impact on water 
quality and habitat quality in the Lower Columbia 
River Estuary. Investments in habitat restoration 
and toxics reduction in the Middle and Upper Co-
lumbia River Basin can have significant benefits for 
fish and wildlife throughout the entire basin. 
(6) Together with the Governors of Oregon and 
Washington, the EPA created the Lower Columbia 
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River Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership) in 
1995 to provide regional coordination to focus on 
the lower river, to advance the science of the eco-
system, and to deliver environmental results. The 
Estuary Partnership was formed within the National 
Estuary Program and provides a structure for orga-
nization and collaboration to implement Federal pri-
orities. The Estuary Partnership includes all key 
Federal agencies as part of its management and gov-
erning structure, including the EPA, the United 
States Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the 
Army Corps of Engineers, the Forest Service, and 
tribal, State, and local governments. 
(7) The Columbia River Basin was designated 
by the EPA as an ‘‘Estuary of National Signifi-
cance’’ in 1995 and a ‘‘Large Aquatic Ecosystem’’ 
in 2006. 
(8) The Estuary Partnership has developed an 
unparalleled 2-State, public and private partnership, 
including unprecedented collaborative efforts among 
key Federal partners, including the EPA, the 
NOAA, the USGS, and the Army Corps of Engi-
neers to advance Federal goals, and the Estuary 
Partnership and its partners have gathered scientific 
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information and compiled data, and have made sig-
nificant gains in habitat protection and environ-
mental education. 
(9) Despite these advances, further degradation 
exists and contaminants persist in the Columbia 
River Basin and are impairing the health of fish, 
wildlife, and humans. Degraded conditions in the 
river exacerbate the challenges already faced by the 
13 species of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia 
River Basin listed as threatened or endangered 
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 
(10) The ‘‘Estuary Partnership Comprehensive 
Conservation and Management Plan’’ (1999), the 
‘‘Northwest Power and Conservation Council Lower 
Columbia Province Plan’’ (2004, amended 2008), 
the draft ‘‘NOAA Columbia River Estuary Recovery 
Module for Salmon and Steelhead’’ (2010), the 
States of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington Recovery 
Plans, the ‘‘Biological Opinion for the Federal Co-
lumbia River Power System (FCRPS)’’ (2000, 2004, 
2008), and the ‘‘EPA Columbia Basin State of the 
River Report for Toxics’’ (2009) consistently iden-
tify habitat loss and toxic contamination as threats 
to fish and wildlife. 
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‘‘(4) LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER AND ESTUARY.— 
The term ‘Lower Columbia River and Estuary’ 
means the region consisting of the lower 146 miles 
of the Columbia River Basin from the Bonneville 
Dam to the Pacific Ocean. 
‘‘(5) MIDDLE
AND
UPPER
COLUMBIA
RIVER 
BASIN.—The term ‘Middle and Upper Columbia 
River Basin’ means the region consisting of the 
United States portion of the Columbia River Basin 
above Bonneville Dam, including the Snake River 
(and its tributaries) and other tributaries of the Co-
lumbia River. 
‘‘(6) TEAM LEADER.—The term ‘Team Leader’ 
means the Team Leader appointed under subsection 
(b). 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM TEAM.— 
‘‘(1) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Administrator 
shall establish in the Environmental Protection 
Agency a Columbia River Program Team. The Team 
shall be located within the Oregon Operations Office 
for Region 10 of the Environmental Protection 
Agency. 
‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT
OF
TEAM
LEADER.—The 
Administrator shall appoint a Team Leader, who, by 
reason of management experience and technical ex-
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governments, and other public and private in-
terests in the Columbia River Basin, considers 
appropriate; 
‘‘(D) provide funding and make grants for 
implementation of the Action Plan and the 
Comprehensive Plan and projects, programs, 
and studies consistent with the priorities of the 
Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan; 
‘‘(E) promote innovative methodologies and 
technologies that are cost effective and con-
sistent with the identified goals and objectives 
of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan 
and the permitting processes of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency; 
‘‘(F) coordinate the major functions of the 
Federal Government related to the implementa-
tion of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive 
Plan, including projects, programs, and studies 
for— 
‘‘(i) water quality improvements; 
‘‘(ii) toxics reduction and monitoring; 
‘‘(iii) wetland, riverine, and estuary 
restoration and protection; 
‘‘(iv) nearshore and endangered spe-
cies recovery; and 
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‘‘(v) stewardship and environmental 
education; 
‘‘(G) coordinate the research and planning 
projects authorized under this section with Fed-
eral agencies, State agencies, tribal govern-
ments, universities, and the Estuary Partner-
ship, including conducting or commissioning 
studies considered necessary for strengthened 
implementation of the Action Plan and the 
Comprehensive Plan; 
‘‘(H) track progress toward meeting the 
identified goals and objectives of the Action 
Plan and the Comprehensive Plan by— 
‘‘(i) implementing and supporting a 
project, program, and monitoring system 
consistent with performance-based eco-
system standards and management; and 
‘‘(ii) coordinating, managing, and re-
porting environmental data related to the 
Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan 
in a manner consistent with methodologies 
utilized by the Estuary Partnership, in-
cluding making such data and reports on 
such data available to the public, including 
on the Internet, in a timely fashion; and 
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‘‘(I) collect and make available to the pub-
lic, including on the Internet, publications and 
other forms of information relating to the envi-
ronmental quality of the Lower Columbia River 
and Estuary. 
‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION
METHODS.—The Ad-
ministrator, acting through the Team Leader, may 
enter into interagency agreements, make intergov-
ernmental personnel appointments, provide funding, 
make grants, and utilize other available methods in 
carrying out the duties under this subsection. 
‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 
date of enactment of this section, and biennially there-
after, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 
that— 
‘‘(1) summarizes the progress made in imple-
menting the Action Plan and the Comprehensive 
Plan and the progress made toward achieving the 
identified goals and objectives described in such 
plans; 
‘‘(2) summarizes any modifications to the Ac-
tion Plan and the Comprehensive Plan made in the 
period immediately preceding the report; 
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‘‘(3) incorporates specific recommendations con-
cerning the implementation of the Action Plan and 
the Comprehensive Plan; and 
‘‘(4) summarizes the roles and progress of each 
Federal agency that has jurisdiction in the Columbia 
River Basin toward meeting the identified goals and 
objectives of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive 
Plan. 
‘‘(e) IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLAN AND COM-
PREHENSIVE PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, acting 
through the Team Leader and in consultation with 
the Estuary Partnership, shall carry out projects, 
programs, and studies to implement the Action Plan 
and the Comprehensive Plan. 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY
PROJECTS, 
PROGRAMS, 
AND 
STUDIES.—The Administrator may give special em-
phasis to projects, programs, and studies that are 
identified as priorities by the Estuary Partnership in 
the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan. 
‘‘(3) GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator, 
acting through the Team Leader, is authorized 
to make grants for projects, programs, and 
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studies to implement the Action Plan and the 
Comprehensive Plan. 
‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS.—In making grants 
using funds appropriated to carry out this para-
graph for a fiscal year, the Administrator, act-
ing through the Team Leader, shall use— 
‘‘(i) not less than 40 percent of the 
funds to make a comprehensive grant to 
the Estuary Partnership to manage imple-
mentation of the Comprehensive Plan; 
‘‘(ii) not less than 50 percent of the 
funds to make grants, as allocated by the 
Team Leader, for projects, programs and 
studies prioritized in the Action Plan 
throughout the Columbia River Basin, and 
for other coordinated projects, programs, 
and studies in the Middle and Upper Co-
lumbia River Basin; and 
‘‘(iii) not more than 5 percent of the 
funds for project management, administra-
tion, and reporting. 
‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 
the costs for which a grant is made under this sec-
tion shall be 75 percent, except that the Adminis-
trator may increase the Federal share in such cir-
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cumstances as the Administrator determines appro-
priate. 
‘‘(f) ANNUAL BUDGET PLAN.—The President, as 
part of the President’s annual budget submission to Con-
gress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 
Code, shall submit information regarding each Federal 
agency involved in protection and restoration of the Co-
lumbia River Basin, including— 
‘‘(1) an interagency crosscut budget that dis-
plays for each Federal agency— 
‘‘(A) the amounts obligated in the pre-
ceding fiscal year for protection and restoration 
projects, programs, and studies relating to the 
Columbia River Basin; 
‘‘(B) the estimated budget for the current 
fiscal year for protection and restoration 
projects, programs, and studies relating to the 
Columbia River Basin; and 
‘‘(C) the proposed budget for protection 
and restoration projects, programs, and studies 
relating to the Columbia River Basin; and 
‘‘(2) a description and assessment of the Fed-
eral role in the development and implementation of 
the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan and 
the specific role of each Federal agency involved in 
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