I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1460 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and direct the Secretary 
of the Interior to conduct a study with respect to stormwater runoff 
from oil and gas operations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2015 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CHU of Cali-
fornia, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, 
Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, 
Mr. HONDA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KEATING, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, 
Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. CAROLYN 
B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. MENG, Mr. NADLER, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, 
Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 
SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. 
TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. YAR-
MUTH, and Mrs. DAVIS of California) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study 
with respect to stormwater runoff from oil and gas oper-
ations, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Focused Reduction of 
Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking 
Environmental Regulation Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘FRESH-
ER Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. STORMWATER RUNOFF FROM OIL, GAS, AND MIN-
ING OPERATIONS. 
(a) LIMITATION ON PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—Sec-
tion 402(l) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1342) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and 
redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2). 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 502 of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (24); and 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (25) and (26) 
as paragraphs (24) and (25), respectively. 
(c) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall conduct a study of stormwater impacts 
with respect to any area that the Secretary deter-
mines may be contaminated by stormwater runoff 
associated with oil or gas operations, which shall in-
clude— 
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(A) an analysis of measurable contamina-
tion in such area; 
(B) an analysis of ground water resources 
in such area; and 
(C) an analysis of the susceptibility of 
aquifers in such area to contamination from 
stormwater runoff associated with such oper-
ations. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on the results of studies 
conducted under paragraph (1). 
Æ 
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