I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4283
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make grants for the
remediation of sediment contamination in certain areas of concern in
the Great Lakes, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 13, 2000
Mr. EHLERS (for himself and Mr. CAMP) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and
in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to au-
thorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency to make grants for the remediation of sedi-
ment contamination in certain areas of concern in 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 Protection
and Restoration Act of 2000’’.
TITLE I—SEDIMENT
REMEDIATION GRANT PROGRAM
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Legacy
Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 102. GRANTS FOR THE REMEDIATION OF SEDIMENT
CONTAMINATION AT AREAS OF CONCERN.
Section 118(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Con-
trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1268(c)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘(12) GRANTS
FOR
REMEDIATION
OF
SEDI-
MENT CONTAMINATION AT AREAS OF CONCERN.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In accordance with
this paragraph, the Administrator, acting
through the Great Lakes National Program Of-
fice described in subsection (b), may make
grants to States, Indian tribes (as defined in
section 518(h)), regional agencies, and local
governments to carry out qualified projects.
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED PROJECT.—In this para-
graph, a qualified project is a project to be car-
ried out in an area of concern located wholly or
in part in the United States, that—
‘‘(i) remediates contaminated sedi-
ment;
‘‘(ii) prevents further or renewed con-
tamination of sediment; or
‘‘(iii) monitors or evaluates contami-
nated sediment.
‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—In selecting applicants to
receive grants under this paragraph, the Ad-
ministrator shall give priority to an applicant
proposing to carry out a qualified project
that—
‘‘(i) remediates contaminated sedi-
ment;
‘‘(ii) is to be carried out in an area of
concern located wholly within the United
States;
‘‘(iii) has been identified in a remedial
action plan submitted pursuant to para-
graph (3), and is ready to be implemented;
or
‘‘(iv) will use an innovative approach
to or technique for remediation.
‘‘(D) LIMITATIONS.—The Administrator
may not make a grant under this paragraph to
carry out any of the following types of projects:
‘‘(i) A project located in an area of
concern that the Administrator determines
is likely to suffer further or renewed con-
tamination from existing sources of pollut-
ants into navigable waters.
‘‘(ii) A project that, following an eval-
uation of the short-term and long-term im-
pacts of the project in relation to the re-
duction of risks to human health and the
environment, the Administrator determines
will be likely to have a greater adverse im-
pact on human health and the environment
than other remedial measures, including
measures that do not involve active remedi-
ation.
‘‘(E) NON-FEDERAL MATCHING REQUIRE-
MENT.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal
share of the cost of any project assisted
under this paragraph shall be not less than
35 percent.
‘‘(ii) IN-KIND
CONTRIBUTIONS.—The
non-Federal share of the cost of a project
assisted under this paragraph may include
the value of in-kind services contributed by
a non-Federal source, including any in-
kind service performed under a consent de-
cree or administrative order, but not in-
cluding any in-kind services performed
under an enforcement order or judgment.
‘‘(iii) 
OPERATION
AND
MAINTE-
NANCE.—The non-Federal share of the
cost of the operation and maintenance of
any project assisted under this paragraph
shall be 100 percent.
‘‘(F) MAINTENANCE
OF
EFFORT.—No
grant may be made under this paragraph in
any fiscal year to carry out a project unless the
grantee enters into such agreements with the
Administrator as the Administrator may require
to ensure that the grantee will maintain its ag-
gregate expenditures from all other sources for
remediation programs in the area of concern in
which the project is located at or above the av-
erage level of such expenditures in its 2 fiscal
years preceding the date on which the grant is
made.
‘‘(G) CONSIDERATION
OF
RISKS, BENE-
FITS, IMPACTS, IMPLEMENTATION, AND COST.—
The Administrator shall require that each appli-
cant for assistance under this paragraph dem-
onstrate that each remedial action to be imple-
mented by a project to be assisted has been se-
lected only after careful consideration of—
‘‘(i) the risks to human health and the
environment posed by the remedial action
and the contaminants to be remediated;
‘‘(ii) the benefits of the remedial ac-
tion;
‘‘(iv) the short-term and long-term
impacts of the remedial action;
‘‘(v) the likelihood that the remedial
action can be implemented; and
‘‘(vi) the cost of the remedial action.
‘‘(H) COORDINATION.—In making grants
under this paragraph, the Administrator shall
coordinate with the Secretary of the Army, and
with the Governors of States in which projects
assisted under this paragraph are located, to
ensure that Federal and State assistance for re-
mediation in areas of concern is used as effi-
ciently as possible.
‘‘(I) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In addition to
other amounts authorized under this sec-
tion, there is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this paragraph $50,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2001 through
2005.
‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY.—Funds appro-
priated under clause (i) shall remain avail-
able until expended.’’.
TITLE II—MORATORIUM ON EX-
PORTS 
OF 
BULK 
FRESH
WATER
SEC. 201. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the waters and water-dependent natural re-
sources of the Great Lakes Basin are precious public
resources, held in trust by the Great Lakes States
and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec;
(2) authority over the Great Lakes is vested in
the Governors of the Great Lakes States by the
Water Resources Development Act of 1986;
(3) the Great Lakes Charter of 1985 is a vol-
untary international agreement that provides the
procedural framework for notice and consultation by
the Great Lakes States and the Canadian provinces
concerning the withdrawal of water from the Great
Lakes Basin;
(4) the Governors of the Great Lakes States, in
exercise of their authority under the Water Re-
sources Development Act of 1986, and the premiers
of the Canadian provinces have based decisions on
proposals to withdraw, divert, or use waters from
the Great Lakes Basin on the extent to which such
proposals conserve and protect waters and water-de-
pendent resources of the Great Lakes Basin;
(5) decisionmaking must remain vested in the
Governors of the Great Lakes States and the pre-
miers of the Canadian provinces, who currently man-
age the Great Lakes Basin on a day-to-day basis;
(6) demand for clean and fresh water is grow-
ing around the world and bulk exports pose a unique
challenge to the management of the Great Lakes;
and
(7) the ecological effects of bulk exports of
water from the Great Lakes are unknown.
SEC. 202. MORATORIUM ON EXPORTS OF BULK FRESH
WATER.
(a) MORATORIUM
ON EXPORTS.—No bulk fresh
water from the Great Lakes Basin may be exported from
the United States.
(b) LIFTING OF MORATORIUM.—Subsection (a) shall
cease to apply on the earlier of—
(1) December 31, 2001; or
(2) the effective date of an Act of Congress ap-
proving an agreement among the Great Lakes States
to implement a mechanism that provides for a com-
mon conservation standard to make decisions con-
cerning the withdrawal and use of water from the
Great Lakes Basin.
SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this title—
(1) the term ‘‘bulk fresh water’’ means fresh
water extracted in amounts intended for transpor-
tation by tanker or similar form of mass transpor-
tation, without further processing;
(2) the term ‘‘Great Lakes Basin’’ means the
water within Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario,
St. Clair, and Superior, within interconnecting wa-
terways, within all other watercourses draining into
and between those lakes, and within all tributary
surface and underground channels or areas which
drain into or comprise part of any watershed drain-
ing into any of those lakes; and
(3) the term ‘‘Great Lakes State’’ means each
of the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Min-
nesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wis-
consin.
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