I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3894 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit sewage 
dumping into the Great Lakes, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 23, 2019 
Mr. LIPINSKI 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 sewage dumping 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 ‘‘Great Lakes Water 
Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON WASTEWATER RELEASES INTO 
THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
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(1) RESTRICTION.—Section 402 of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(t) RESTRICTION ON WASTEWATER RELEASES INTO 
THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) BYPASS.—The term ‘bypass’ means, 
with respect to a treatment facility that dis-
charges into the Great Lakes System, an inten-
tional diversion of waste streams from any por-
tion of the treatment facility. 
‘‘(B) GREAT
LAKES
SYSTEM.—The term 
‘Great Lakes System’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 118(a)(3). 
‘‘(C) TREATMENT
FACILITY.—The term 
‘treatment facility’ includes all wastewater 
treatment units used by a publicly owned treat-
ment works to meet secondary treatment stand-
ards or higher, as required to attain water qual-
ity standards, under any operating conditions. 
‘‘(D) 
TREATMENT
WORKS.—The 
term 
‘treatment works’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 212. 
‘‘(2) RESTRICTION.—A publicly owned treat-
ment works that discharges into the Great Lakes 
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System is prohibited from performing a bypass un-
less— 
‘‘(A)(i) the bypass is unavoidable to pre-
vent loss of life, personal injury, or severe prop-
erty damage; 
‘‘(ii) there is not a feasible alternative to 
the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treat-
ment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or 
maintenance during normal periods of equip-
ment downtime; and 
‘‘(iii) the treatment works provides notice 
of the bypass in accordance with paragraph (4); 
or 
‘‘(B) the bypass— 
‘‘(i) does not cause effluent limitations 
to be exceeded; and 
‘‘(ii) is for essential maintenance to 
ensure efficient operation of the treatment 
facility. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The requirement of para-
graph (2)(A)(ii) is not satisfied if— 
‘‘(A) adequate back-up equipment should 
have been installed in the exercise of reasonable 
engineering judgment to prevent the bypass; 
and 
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‘‘(B) the bypass occurred during normal 
periods of equipment downtime or preventive 
maintenance. 
‘‘(4) IMMEDIATE NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall work with States having publicly owned 
treatment works subject to paragraph (2) to 
create immediate notice requirements in the 
event of a bypass or a combined sewer overflow 
that provide for the method, contents, and re-
quirements for public availability of the notice. 
‘‘(B) MINIMUM INITIAL NOTICE REQUIRE-
MENTS.—At a minimum, the contents of the 
immediate notice under subparagraph (A) shall 
include— 
‘‘(i) the exact dates and times of the 
bypass or combined sewer overflow; 
‘‘(ii) the volume of the bypass or com-
bined sewer overflow; and 
‘‘(iii) a description of any public ac-
cess areas impacted. 
‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
Administrator and States described in subpara-
graph (A) shall— 
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‘‘(i) ensure that the minimum require-
ments under subparagraph (B) are con-
sistent for all those States; 
‘‘(ii) establish follow-up notice require-
ments that provide a full description of 
each event (including water quality data), 
the cause, and plans to prevent reoccur-
rence; and 
‘‘(iii) establish requirements for mak-
ing publicly available, including on the 
website of the Administrator, a list of each 
treatment works from which the Adminis-
trator or the State received a follow-up no-
tice, along with the information required 
under clause (ii) for each event that re-
quired a follow-up notice. 
‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this subsection, 
the Administrator shall establish procedures to im-
plement this subsection.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 425 
of division G of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2016 (Public Law 114–113; 33 U.S.C. 1268 note) 
is repealed. 
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(b) GREAT LAKES GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVEL-
OPMENT GRANT PROGRAM.—Title V of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by redesignating section 520 (33 U.S.C. 
1251 note) as section 521; and 
(2) by inserting after section 519 (33 U.S.C. 
1377a) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 520. ESTABLISHMENT OF GREAT LAKES GREEN IN-
FRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT GRANT PRO-
GRAM. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) GREAT LAKES STATES; GREAT LAKES SYS-
TEM.—The terms ‘Great Lakes States’ and ‘Great 
Lakes System’ have the meanings given the terms in 
section 118(a)(3). 
‘‘(2) GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 
‘green infrastructure’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 502. 
‘‘(3) LOW-INCOME
COMMUNITY.—The term 
‘low-income community’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 45D(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986. 
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‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 
the Great Lakes Green Infrastructure Development 
Grant Program established under subsection (b). 
‘‘(5) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘small busi-
ness’ means a small business concern (as defined 
under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 632)). 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 
1 year after the date of enactment of the Great Lakes 
Water Protection Act, the Administrator shall establish a 
grant program, to be known as the ‘Great Lakes Green 
Infrastructure Grant Program’, under which the Adminis-
trator shall make grants to Great Lakes States to fund 
programs and activities to develop green infrastructure 
projects. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Great Lakes State 
desiring a grant under the Program shall submit to 
the Administrator an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as 
the Administrator may require. 
‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT OF NEED AND URGENCY.— 
Each application under paragraph (1) shall include 
an assessment of the relative need and urgency of 
the applicable program or activity for which the 
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Great Lakes State desires a grant under the Pro-
gram, as compared to other programs and activities 
for which the Great Lakes State desires a grant 
under the Program during the same fiscal year, in-
cluding an explanation of the reasons for any deter-
mination of relative need and urgency. 
‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF GRANT AWARDS.— 
‘‘(1) 
ALLOCATION
AMONG
GREAT
LAKES 
STATES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, 
in awarding grants under the Program, the Ad-
ministrator shall determine the maximum 
amount that may be awarded to each Great 
Lakes State based on the relative needs of each 
Great Lakes State, as determined by the most 
recent Clean Watersheds Needs Survey carried 
out by the Administrator pursuant to section 
516(b). 
‘‘(B) UNAWARDED AMOUNTS.—If the Sec-
retary does not award to a Great Lakes State 
the maximum amount available to the Great 
Lakes State under subparagraph (A) for a fis-
cal year, the Secretary shall make the remain-
ing amounts for that fiscal year available to the 
Great Lakes State in subsequent fiscal years. 
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‘‘(2) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants to 
a Great Lakes State under the Program, the 
Administrator shall give priority to applications 
to fund programs and activities that present the 
greatest need and urgency, as determined by 
the Administrator. 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF STATE ASSESS-
MENT OF NEED AND URGENCY.—In making a 
determination of need and urgency under sub-
paragraph (A), the Secretary shall take into 
consideration each applicable assessment of rel-
ative need and urgency prepared by the Great 
Lakes State under subsection (c)(2). 
‘‘(e) SUBGRANTS.—A Great Lakes State receiving a 
grant under the Program may make subgrants to any en-
tity or individual in the Great Lakes State for programs 
and activities to develop green infrastructure projects. 
‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF GRANT FUNDS RECEIVED BY 
GREAT LAKES STATES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of any amounts awarded 
to a Great Lakes State under the Program, the 
Great Lakes State shall ensure that— 
‘‘(A) not less than 50 percent of those 
amounts are used for— 
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‘‘(i) capital expenditures relating to 
green infrastructure projects, including any 
expenses for cost estimates or project plan-
ning and design; and 
‘‘(ii) materials associated with capital 
expenditures relating to green infrastruc-
ture projects, such as rain garden soils; 
‘‘(B) not less than 25 percent of those 
amounts are used for operations and mainte-
nance of green infrastructure, including any ex-
penses for developing operations and mainte-
nance cost estimates; and 
‘‘(C) not more than 25 percent of those 
amounts are used for green infrastructure 
workforce training, except that, in the case of 
a workforce training program that provides 
dedicated maintenance labor for green infra-
structure, amounts expended for green infra-
structure workforce training may be considered 
to be amounts expended for operations and 
maintenance under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION
ON
FUNDING
FOR
OPER-
ATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.—Each entity or indi-
vidual that receives amounts awarded to a Great 
Lakes State under the Program may use the 
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