•HCON 309 IH 
Whereas combined sewer overflow occurs when the capacity 
of the collection and treatment system is exceeded due to 
high volumes of rainwater or snowmelt; 
Whereas when the capacity of a combined sewer system is ex-
ceeded, untreated rainwater runoff, domestic sewage, and 
industrial waste is discharged into surface waters; 
Whereas combined sewer overflow can create serious public 
health and water quality concerns; 
Whereas the Environmental Protection Agency has required 
communities in which combined sewer overflow is preva-
lent to develop long-term control plans for combined 
sewer overflow; 
Whereas implementation of these long-term control plans can 
require extraordinarily large infrastructure investments 
that may be beyond the financial means of communities 
in which combined sewer overflow is prevalent; 
Whereas local government and utility ratepayers are currently 
burdened with paying more than 90 percent of all spend-
ing on drinking water and wastewater infrastructure; 
Whereas the Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 
its 2000 Clean Water Needs Survey Report to Congress 
that it will cost $50,600,000,000 to control combined 
sewer overflow nationwide; 
Whereas experts in the wastewater treatment sector consider 
the Environmental Protection Agency’s figure to be a 
gross underestimate of required control costs; 
Whereas the Federal Government has recognized that it has 
an obligation to assist communities in complying with 
water pollution control mandates of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.);
•HCON 309 IH 
Whereas the construction grants program under that Act as-
sisted States and communities in modernizing their water 
and sewer distribution programs; 
Whereas the construction grants program under that Act has 
been replaced by annual Federal grants to capitalize 
State water pollution control revolving loan funds; 
Whereas federally capitalized State water pollution control re-
volving loan funds have been increasingly used to provide 
below-market and zero-interest loans to communities for 
projects to control combined sewer overflow; 
Whereas although federally capitalized State water pollution 
control revolving loan funds have assisted efforts to con-
trol combined sewer overflow, many communities cannot 
afford to repay loans for 100 percent of the cost of water 
infrastructure projects; 
Whereas Congress has recognized that Federal grants are a 
necessary component of helping communities afford com-
bined sewer overflow control; 
Whereas Congress has provided ‘‘earmarked’’ funding for in-
frastructure to control combined sewer overflow for spe-
cific communities in annual appropriations Acts, accom-
panied by a 45 percent local cost-share requirement; 
Whereas recognizing that ‘‘earmarked’’ funding for infra-
structure to control combined sewer overflow in annual 
appropriations Acts did not fully meet the enormous 
needs of communites in which combined sewer overflow 
is prevalent, in 2000 Congress passed amendments to the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act authorizing the En-
vironmental Protection Agency to provide $750,000,000 
in grants in each of fiscal years 2002 and 2003 to these 
communities, either directly or through States, for plan-
•HCON 309 IH 
ning, design, and construction of combined sewer over-
flow treatment; 
Whereas the combined sewer overflow grant program author-
ized in 2000 assigns financially distressed communities 
priority for direct grants; 
Whereas the new combined sewer overflow grant program 
was not funded in either fiscal year 2002 or 2003; and 
Whereas the new combined sewer overflow grant program’s 
authorization expires after fiscal year 2003: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress—
(1) should commit and provide substantially in-
creased Federal funding and resources for combined 
sewer overflow control, which commitment must in-
clude a significant grant component; 
(2) should increase Federal funding for com-
bined sewer overflow control to levels sufficient to 
cover at least 80 percent of the costs of such control 
incurred by financially distressed communities, par-
ticularly those located in urban areas; 
(3) should provide the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency with additional resources to improve na-
tionwide tracking of progress in combined sewer 
overflow control programs; and 
(4) should expressly authorize the Army Corps 
of Engineers to assist communities with assessment
•HCON 309 IH 
and design work associated with upgrades of com-
bined sewer systems.
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