I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4136 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating to beach 
monitoring, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 30, 2015 
Mr. PALLONE (for himself and Mrs. CAPPS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating 
to beach monitoring, 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 ‘‘Beach Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. WATER POLLUTION SOURCE IDENTIFICATION. 
(a) MONITORING PROTOCOLS.—Section 406(a)(1)(A) 
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1346(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘methods for mon-
itoring’’ and inserting ‘‘protocols for monitoring that are 
most likely to detect pathogenic contamination’’. 
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(b) SOURCE TRACKING.—Section 406(b) of such Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1346(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(5) CONTENTS OF MONITORING AND NOTIFI-
CATION PROGRAMS.—For the purposes of this sec-
tion, a program for monitoring, assessment, and no-
tification shall include, consistent with performance 
criteria published by the Administrator under sub-
section (a), monitoring, public notification, storm 
event testing, source tracking, and sanitary surveys, 
and may include prevention efforts, not already 
funded under this Act to address identified sources 
of contamination by pathogens and pathogen indica-
tors in coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches 
or similar points of access that are used by the pub-
lic.’’. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
406(i) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(i)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘2001 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘2016 
through 2020’’. 
SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR BEACHES ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS-
MENT AND COASTAL HEALTH ACT. 
Section 8 of the Beaches Environmental Assessment 
and Coastal Health Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–284) 
is amended by striking ‘‘2005’’ and inserting ‘‘2018’’. 
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SEC. 4. STATE REPORTS. 
Section 406(b)(3)(A)(ii)) of the Federal Water Pollu-
tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(b)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘public’’ and inserting ‘‘public and all environ-
mental agencies of the State with authority to prevent or 
treat sources of pathogenic contamination in coastal recre-
ation waters’’. 
SEC. 5. USE OF RAPID TESTING METHODS. 
(a) CONTENTS OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
PROGRAMS.—Section 406(c)(4)(A) of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1346(c)(4)(A)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘methods’’ and inserting ‘‘methods, 
including a rapid testing method after the last day of the 
one-year period after the date of validation of that rapid 
testing method by the Administrator,’’. 
(b) REVISED CRITERIA.—Section 304(a)(9)(A) of 
such Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(a)(9)(A)) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘methods, as appropriate’’ and inserting ‘‘methods, in-
cluding rapid testing methods’’. 
(c) VALIDATION AND USE OF RAPID TESTING METH-
ODS.— 
(1) VALIDATION
OF
RAPID
TESTING
METH-
ODS.—Not later than 6 months after the date of en-
actment of this Act, the Administrator of the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (in this Act referred to 
as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall complete an evaluation 
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and validation of a rapid testing method for the 
water quality criteria and standards for pathogens 
and 
pathogen 
indicators 
described 
in 
section 
304(a)(9)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(a)(9)(A)). 
(2) GUIDANCE
FOR
USE
OF
RAPID
TESTING 
METHODS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 
days after completion of the validation under 
paragraph (1), after providing notice and an 
opportunity for public comment, the Adminis-
trator shall publish guidance for the use at 
coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches or 
similar points of access that are used by the 
public of a rapid testing method that will en-
hance the protection of public health and safety 
through rapid public notification of any exceed-
ance of applicable water quality standards for 
pathogens and pathogen indicators. 
(B) PRIORITIZATION.—In developing such 
guidance, the Administrator shall require the 
use of a rapid testing method at those beaches 
or similar points of access that are the most 
used by the public. 
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(d) DEFINITION.—Section 502 of such Act (33 
U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(27) RAPID
TESTING
METHOD.—The term 
‘rapid testing method’ means a method of testing 
the water quality of coastal recreation waters for 
which results are available as soon as practicable 
and not more than 4 hours after receipt of the appli-
cable sample by the testing facility.’’. 
(e) REVISIONS TO RAPID TESTING METHODS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon completion of the vali-
dation required under subsection (c)(1), and every 5 
years thereafter, the Administrator shall identify 
and review potential rapid testing methods for exist-
ing water quality criteria for pathogens and patho-
gen indicators for coastal recreation waters. 
(2) REVISIONS TO RAPID TESTING METHODS.— 
If a rapid testing method identified under paragraph 
(1) will make results available in less time and im-
prove the accuracy and reproducibility of results 
when compared to the existing rapid testing method, 
the Administrator shall complete an evaluation and 
validation of the rapid testing method as expedi-
tiously as practicable. 
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