I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1955 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 
for nutrient removal technologies to States in the Great Lakes System. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2015 
Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. MOORE, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. 
KAPTUR, Ms. FUDGE, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to pro-
vide assistance for nutrient removal technologies to 
States in the Great Lakes System. 
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 ‘‘Great Lakes Nutrient 
Removal Assistance Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) ineffective wastewater treatment is one of 
the most common sources of water pollution; 
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(2) nutrient pollution, particularly phosphorus 
loading, continues to be one of the most significant 
water quality issues facing the Great Lakes System; 
(3) limiting phosphorus loads is key to control-
ling excessive algal growth, and a coordinated Great 
Lakes System-wide strategy to change how nutrients 
are discharged is urgent; and 
(4) nutrient removal technology is one of the 
most reliable, cost effective, and direct methods for 
reducing the flow of phosphorus and other harmful 
nutrients from point sources in the Great Lakes 
System. 
SEC. 3. NUTRIENT REMOVAL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PRO-
GRAM. 
Section 118 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1268) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(i) NUTRIENT REMOVAL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of this sub-
section, the Administrator shall establish a pro-
gram within the Environmental Protection 
Agency to make grants to Great Lakes States, 
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and municipalities thereof, to install, at eligible 
facilities, nutrient removal technologies that are 
designed to reduce total nutrients in discharged 
wastewater. 
‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In making a grant under 
this subsection, the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(i) consult with the Program Office; 
and 
‘‘(ii) give priority to eligible facilities 
at which the installation of nutrient re-
moval technologies would— 
‘‘(I) produce the greatest nutri-
ent load reductions at points of dis-
charge; 
‘‘(II) result in the greatest envi-
ronmental benefits to the Great Lakes 
System; and 
‘‘(III) help meet the objectives 
related to nutrients outlined in Annex 
4 of the Great Lakes Water Quality 
Protocol of 2012. 
‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—A Great Lakes State, 
or municipality thereof, may submit to the Ad-
ministrator an application for a grant under 
this subsection in such form, and including 
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such information, as the Administrator may 
prescribe. 
‘‘(D) GRANT.—If the Administrator ap-
proves an application submitted under this sub-
section, the Administrator may make a grant to 
the applicant in an amount not to exceed 55 
percent of the cost of installing the nutrient re-
moval technologies at the eligible facility with 
respect to which the application was submitted. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY PRO-
TOCOL OF 2012.—The term ‘Great Lakes Water 
Quality Protocol of 2012’ means the Great 
Lakes Water Quality Protocol of 2012, signed 
at Washington on September 7, 2012 (further 
amending the Great Lakes Water Quality 
Agreement). 
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—The term ‘eli-
gible facility’ means a municipal wastewater 
treatment facility that— 
‘‘(i) as of the date of enactment of 
this subsection, has a permitted design ca-
pacity to treat an annual average of at 
least 500,000 gallons of wastewater per 
day; and 
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‘‘(ii) is located within the Great Lakes 
System in any of the Great Lakes States. 
‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to other 
amounts authorized under this section, there is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
subsection $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2016 through 2020. Such sums shall remain 
available until expended. 
‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE
COSTS.—The Ad-
ministrator may use not to exceed 4 percent of 
any amount made available under subparagraph 
(A) to pay administrative costs incurred in car-
rying out this subsection.’’. 
Æ 
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