I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1175 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and direct the Secretary 
of the Interior to conduct a study with respect to stormwater runoff 
from oil and gas operations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 14, 2013 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. 
FATTAH, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. 
HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KEATING, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. 
LEE of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. 
MENG, Mr. MORAN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, 
Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 
SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 
TAKANO, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 
COHEN, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Ms. CHU, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. 
EDWARDS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study 
with respect to stormwater runoff from oil and gas oper-
ations, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Focused Reduction of 
Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking 
Environmental Regulation Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘FRESH-
ER Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. STORMWATER RUNOFF FROM OIL, GAS, AND MIN-
ING OPERATIONS. 
(a) LIMITATION ON PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—Sec-
tion 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1342) is amended by striking subsection (l) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(l) LIMITATION ON PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—The 
Administrator shall not require a permit under this section 
for discharges composed entirely of return flows from irri-
gated agriculture, nor shall the Administrator directly or 
indirectly, require any State to require such a permit.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 502 of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (24); and 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (25) as para-
graph (24). 
(c) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall conduct a study of stormwater impacts 
with respect to any area that the Secretary deter-
mines may be contaminated by stormwater runoff 
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associated with oil or gas operations, which shall in-
clude— 
(A) an analysis of measurable contamina-
tion in such area; 
(B) an analysis of ground water resources 
in such area; and 
(C) an analysis of the susceptibility of 
aquifers in such area to contamination from 
stormwater runoff associated with such oper-
ations. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on the results of studies 
conducted under paragraph (1). 
Æ 
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