I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6364 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide assistance 
for programs and activities to protect the water quality of Puget Sound, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2008 
Mr. DICKS (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. BAIRD, 
Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. REICHERT) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to pro-
vide assistance for programs and activities to protect 
the water quality of Puget Sound, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Puget Sound Recovery 
Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Puget Sound, as the Nation’s second largest 
estuary, is a cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest’s 
regional identity and at the heart of the region’s 
prosperity, supporting a thriving natural resource 
and marine industry. 
(2) The water quality of Puget Sound is in de-
cline, with areas of deadly low oxygen and increasing 
toxic pollutants. Resident species such as salmon 
and orcas are endangered. 
(3) The declining health of Puget Sound threat-
ens the economic and environmental vitality of the 
Pacific Northwest. 
(4) The Governor of the State of Washington 
has taken steps to combat the decline of Puget 
Sound at the State government level. 
(5) The Federal Government should now match 
the efforts of the State of Washington. The Environ-
mental Protection Agency should take the lead at 
the Federal level to create a comprehensive recovery 
package for Puget Sound, in coordination with the 
comprehensive conservation and management plan 
for Puget Sound, and should establish a Puget 
Sound office in the State of Washington. Other Fed-
eral agencies to be involved should include the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Na-
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tional Park Service, the United States Geological 
Survey, the Forest Service, the Natural Resources 
Conservation Service, the Corps of Engineers, and 
the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, 
Defense, and Transportation. 
(6) The Puget Sound recovery plan efforts 
should be listed in the President’s annual budget 
and should serve as a model of the use of science 
and efficient coordination between Federal, tribal, 
State, regional, and local efforts with an emphasis 
on monitoring, assessment, and reaching demon-
strable goals. 
(7) Canada should join in this enhanced effort, 
given that Puget Sound and the Georgia Straits are 
the same waterway. 
SEC. 3. PUGET SOUND. 
Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 123. PUGET SOUND. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM OFFICE.— 
‘‘(1) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Administrator 
shall establish in the Environmental Protection 
Agency a Puget Sound Program Office (in this sec-
tion referred to as the ‘Office’). 
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‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR.—The Office 
shall be headed by a Director who, by reason of 
management experience and technical expertise re-
lating to Puget Sound, is highly qualified to direct 
the development of programs and plans on a variety 
of issues relating to Puget Sound. The Office shall 
be located in the State of Washington. 
‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY; STAFFING.— 
The Administrator shall delegate to the Director 
such authority, and provide such additional staff, as 
may be necessary to carry out the duties of the Di-
rector under this section. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES OF DIRECTOR.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall assist 
the management conference convened for Puget 
Sound under section 320 (in this section referred to 
as the ‘Conference’) in carrying out its goals. 
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—In carrying out para-
graph (1), the Director shall— 
‘‘(A) assist and support the implementa-
tion of the comprehensive conservation and 
management plan developed by the Conference 
pursuant to section 320 (in this section referred 
to as the ‘Comprehensive Plan’), including ef-
forts to establish, within the process for grant-
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ing watershed general permits, a system for 
promoting innovative methodologies and tech-
nologies that are cost-effective and consistent 
with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan; 
‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, coordinate 
the major functions of the Federal Government 
related to the implementation of the Com-
prehensive Plan, including programs and activi-
ties for water quality improvements, wetland 
and estuary restoration and protection, endan-
gered species recovery, and research and studies 
commissioned under this Act; 
‘‘(C) conduct or commission studies and 
research considered necessary for strengthened 
implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, in-
cluding studies and research described in para-
graph (3); 
‘‘(D) coordinate and manage environ-
mental data related to Puget Sound; 
‘‘(E) coordinate the grant, research, and 
planning programs authorized under this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(F) coordinate activities for the protection 
of Puget Sound and the Georgia Straits with 
Canadian authorities; 
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‘‘(G) coordinate activities and implementa-
tion responsibilities, including activities under 
species recovery plans, through cooperation with 
other Federal agencies that have jurisdiction in 
the Puget Sound watershed; 
‘‘(H) collect and make available to the 
public publications, and other forms of informa-
tion the Conference determines to be appro-
priate, relating to the environmental quality of 
Puget Sound; and 
‘‘(I) biennially issue a report to Congress 
that— 
‘‘(i) summarizes the progress made in 
implementing the Comprehensive Plan; 
‘‘(ii) summarizes any modifications to 
the Comprehensive Plan in the 12-month 
period immediately preceding such report; 
and 
‘‘(iii) 
incorporates 
specific 
rec-
ommendations concerning the implementa-
tion of the Comprehensive Plan. 
‘‘(3) STUDIES AND RESEARCH.—Areas for stud-
ies and research under paragraph (2)(C) shall in-
clude— 
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‘‘(A) population growth and the adequacy 
of wastewater treatment facilities and on-site 
septic systems; 
‘‘(B) the use of physical, chemical, and bi-
ological methods for nutrient removal in sewage 
treatment plants; 
‘‘(C) contaminated sediments and dredging 
activities; 
‘‘(D) nonpoint source pollution abatement, 
including pollution from stormwater discharges, 
and land use activities in the Puget Sound wa-
tershed; 
‘‘(E) wetland, riparian, and near shore 
protection and restoration; 
‘‘(F) flood abatement and floodplain res-
toration techniques; 
‘‘(G) the impacts of forest and agricultural 
practices on the health of Puget Sound; 
‘‘(H) atmospheric deposition of pollutants 
into the Puget Sound watershed; 
‘‘(I) water quality requirements to sustain 
fish, shellfish, and wildlife populations, and the 
use of indicator species to assess environmental 
quality; 
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‘‘(J) State water quality programs, for 
their adequacy pursuant to implementation of 
the Comprehensive Plan; 
‘‘(K) options for long-term financing of 
wastewater treatment projects and water pollu-
tion control programs; 
‘‘(L) water usage and efficiency; 
‘‘(M) toxic pollutants; and 
‘‘(N) such other areas as the Director con-
siders appropriate. 
‘‘(4) IMPLEMENTATION METHODS.—The Direc-
tor may enter into interagency agreements, make 
intergovernmental personnel appointments, and uti-
lize other available methods in carrying out the Di-
rector’s duties under this subsection. 
‘‘(c) GRANTS
TO
IMPLEMENT
COMPREHENSIVE 
PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator may 
make grants to eligible recipients for projects and 
studies that will help implement the Comprehensive 
Plan. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Projects and stud-
ies eligible for assistance under this subsection in-
clude planning, research, modeling, construction, 
monitoring, implementation, citizen involvement and 
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education, and such other activities as the Adminis-
trator considers appropriate. 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 
the cost of a project or study receiving grant assist-
ance under this subsection shall not exceed 50 per-
cent of the cost of the project or study. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 
State, interstate, tribal, regional, or local water pol-
lution control agency or other public or nonprofit 
private agency, institution, or organization. 
‘‘(d) GRANTS FOR PROJECTS TO ADDRESS SEWAGE 
AND STORMWATER DISCHARGES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator may 
make grants to eligible recipients for projects to ad-
dress sewage and stormwater discharges into the 
Puget Sound watershed. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Projects eligible for 
assistance under this subsection include demonstra-
tion and research projects that provide treatment 
for, or that minimize, sewage or stormwater dis-
charges using one or more approaches, including de-
centralized or distributed stormwater controls, de-
centralized wastewater treatment, low-impact devel-
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opment practices, conservation easements, stream 
buffers, and wetlands restoration. 
‘‘(3) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the Administrator shall award 
grants under this subsection on a competitive 
basis. 
‘‘(B) 
DISTRESSED
COMMUNITIES.—In 
awarding grants under this subsection, the Ad-
ministrator may give priority to a project lo-
cated in a distressed community. 
‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the Federal share of the cost of a 
project receiving grant assistance under this 
subsection shall not exceed 75 percent of the 
cost of the project. 
‘‘(B) 
DISTRESSED
COMMUNITIES.—The 
Federal share of the cost of a project receiving 
grant assistance under this subsection shall not 
exceed 100 percent of the cost of the project if 
the project is located in a distressed commu-
nity. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol-
lowing definitions apply: 
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‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘eli-
gible recipient’ means a State, interstate, tribal, 
regional, or local water pollution control agency 
or other public or nonprofit private agency, in-
stitution, or organization. 
‘‘(B) DISTRESSED COMMUNITY.—The term 
‘distressed community’ means a community 
that meets affordability criteria established by 
the State in which the community is located, if 
such criteria are developed after public review 
and comment. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL BUDGET PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President, as part of 
the annual budget of the United States Government, 
shall submit information regarding each Federal 
agency involved in Puget Sound protection and res-
toration, including— 
‘‘(A) an interagency crosscut budget that 
displays for each Federal agency— 
‘‘(i) amounts obligated in the pre-
ceding fiscal year for protection and res-
toration activities relating to Puget Sound; 
‘‘(ii) the estimated budget for the cur-
rent fiscal year for protection and restora-
tion activities relating to Puget Sound; and 
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‘‘(iii) the proposed budget for protec-
tion and restoration activities relating to 
Puget Sound; and 
‘‘(B) a description of the Federal role in 
the Puget Sound Program and the specific role 
of each agency involved in Puget Sound protec-
tion and restoration, including specific activities 
conducted or planned to achieve the goals of the 
Comprehensive Plan. 
‘‘(2) 
COORDINATION
WITH
THE
CON-
FERENCE.—In carrying out this subsection, the 
President, to the extent practical, shall coordinate 
reporting, data collection, and planning activities 
with the Conference. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATIONS.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this section 
such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
2009 through 2013.’’. 
Æ 
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