I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1844 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that publicly 
owned treatment works monitor for and report sewer overflows, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 11, 2021 
Mr. MOULTON (for himself and Mrs. TRAHAN) 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 ensure 
that publicly owned treatment works monitor for and 
report sewer overflows, 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 ‘‘Sewage Treatment 
Overflow Prevention through Community Sanitation Out-
reach Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘STOP CSO Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC NOTIFICA-
TION OF SEWER OVERFLOWS. 
(a) SEWER OVERFLOW AND STORMWATER REUSE 
MUNICIPAL GRANTS.—Section 221(a) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1301(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—A State may use fund-
ing provided by a grant under this subsection for 
monitoring, reporting, and notification required 
under section 402(t).’’. 
(b) NATIONAL
POLLUTANT
DISCHARGE
ELIMI-
NATION SYSTEM.—Section 402 of the Federal Water Pol-
lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(2)(B), by inserting ‘‘this 
section and’’ after ‘‘required in’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(t) SEWER OVERFLOW MONITORING, REPORTING, 
AND NOTIFICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—After the last 
day of the 180-day period beginning on the date on 
which regulations are issued under paragraph (4), a 
permit issued, renewed, or modified under this sec-
tion by the Administrator (or a State, in the case of 
a permit program approved by the Administrator) 
for a publicly owned treatment works shall require 
the owner or operator of the treatment works to— 
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‘‘(A) institute and utilize a feasible meth-
odology, technology, or management program 
for monitoring sewer overflows to alert the 
owner or operator to the occurrence of a sewer 
overflow in a timely manner; 
‘‘(B) in the case of a sewer overflow that 
has the potential to affect human health, notify 
the public of the overflow as soon as prac-
ticable, but in no case more than 4 hours, after 
the time the owner or operator knows of the 
overflow; 
‘‘(C) in the case of a sewer overflow that 
may imminently and substantially endanger 
human health, notify public health authorities 
and other affected entities, such as public water 
systems, of the overflow immediately after the 
owner or operator knows of the overflow; and 
‘‘(D) report each sewer overflow to the Ad-
ministrator (or the State), describing— 
‘‘(i) the magnitude, duration, and sus-
pected cause of the overflow; 
‘‘(ii) the steps taken or planned to re-
duce, eliminate, or prevent a recurrence of 
the overflow; and 
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‘‘(iii) the steps taken or planned to 
mitigate the adverse effects of the over-
flow. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The reporting requirements 
of paragraph (1)(D) shall not apply to a sewer over-
flow that is a release of wastewater that occurs in 
the course of maintenance of a treatment works, is 
managed consistently with best management prac-
tices for treatment works, and is intended to prevent 
sewer overflows. 
‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—In the case of a permit 
program approved by the Administrator, the State 
shall submit to the Administrator an annual report 
describing sewer overflows reported to the State 
under paragraph (1)(D). 
‘‘(4) RULEMAKING.—Not later than one year 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
Administrator shall issue regulations to implement 
this subsection, including regulations to— 
‘‘(A) establish a set of criteria to guide the 
owner or operator of a publicly owned treat-
ment works in— 
‘‘(i) assessing whether a sewer over-
flow has the potential to affect human 
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health or may imminently and substan-
tially endanger human health; and 
‘‘(ii) developing communication meas-
ures that are sufficient to give notice 
under paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C); and 
‘‘(B) define the terms ‘feasible’ and ‘time-
ly’ as such terms apply to paragraph (1)(A), 
which definitions shall include consideration of 
site-specific conditions. 
‘‘(5) SPECIAL
RULES
CONCERNING
APPLICA-
TION OF NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—After the 
last day of the 30-day period beginning on the date 
on which the Administrator issues regulations under 
paragraph (4), the requirements of paragraphs 
(1)(B) and (1)(C) shall apply to the owner or oper-
ator of a publicly owned treatment works until such 
date as a permit is issued, renewed, or modified 
under this section in accordance with paragraph (1). 
‘‘(6) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection applies to a wastewater backup that 
will not result in a discharge into waters of the 
United States. 
‘‘(7) DEFINITION
OF
SEWER
OVERFLOW.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘sewer overflow’ means a 
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sanitary sewer overflow or a municipal combined 
sewer overflow.’’. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE. 
Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Con-
trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(13) for the implementation of monitoring for 
sewer overflows required under section 402(t).’’. 
Æ 
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