I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5516 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit the discharge 
of dredged material into the Great Lakes, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 
Mr. LATTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to pro-
hibit the discharge of dredged material into the Great 
Lakes, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Great 
Lakes Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DISCHARGE OF DREDGED MATE-
RIAL INTO THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM. 
Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:00 Sep 24, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5516.IH
H5516
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The Sec-
retary may’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 
subsection (u), the Secretary may’’; 
(2) in subsection (f)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in para-
graph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs (2) 
and (3)’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) Any discharge of dredged material into the 
open waters of the Great Lakes is prohibited.’’; 
(3) in subsection (r), by striking ‘‘The dis-
charge’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub-
section (u), the discharge’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(u) PROHIBITION ON DISCHARGE OF DREDGED MA-
TERIAL
INTO
THE
OPEN
WATERS
OF
THE
GREAT 
LAKES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary (or a State 
in the case of a State program approved under this 
section) may not issue a permit for the discharge of 
dredged material into the open waters of the Great 
Lakes. 
‘‘(2) DISPOSAL AREAS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:00 Sep 24, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5516.IH
H5516
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) Any dredged material resulting from 
activity in the Great Lakes System (as defined 
in section 118 of this Act) shall be reused in 
beneficial ways on land or disposed of in a con-
fined land-based or confined water-based dis-
posal area determined to be economically and 
environmentally viable by the Secretary in con-
sultation with concerned States. 
‘‘(B) Any person who violates subpara-
graph (A) shall be treated as having violated a 
condition or limitation set forth in a permit 
issued under this section. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘open waters of the Great Lakes’ 
means all of the waters within Lake Erie, Lake 
Huron (including Lake St. Clair), Lake Michigan, 
Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior lakeward from a 
line drawn across the mouth of tributaries to the 
Lakes, including all waters enclosed by constructed 
breakwaters, but not including the connecting chan-
nels.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:00 Sep 24, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5516.IH
H5516
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS