Great Lakes Water Protection Act

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 571 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 571

    To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a
  deadline for restricting sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to
 fund programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into
                            the Great Lakes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2013

 Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill;
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a
  deadline for restricting sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to
 fund programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into
                            the Great Lakes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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. PROHIBITION ON SEWAGE DUMPING INTO THE GREAT LAKES.

    Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1342) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s) Prohibition on Sewage Dumping Into the Great Lakes.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Bypass.--The term `bypass' means an
                intentional diversion of waste streams to bypass any
                portion of a treatment facility which results in a
                discharge into the Great Lakes.
                    ``(B) Discharge.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `discharge'
                        means a direct or indirect discharge of
                        untreated sewage or partially treated sewage
                        from a treatment works into the Great Lakes.
                            ``(ii) Inclusions.--The term `discharge'
                        includes a bypass and a combined sewer
                        overflow.
                    ``(C) Great lakes.--The term `Great Lakes' has the
                meaning given the term in section 118(a)(3).
                    ``(D) Partially treated sewage.--The term
                `partially treated sewage' means any sewage, sewage and
                storm water, or sewage and wastewater, from domestic or
                industrial sources that--
                            ``(i) is not treated to national secondary
                        treatment standards for wastewater; or
                            ``(ii) is treated to a level less than the
                        level required by the applicable national
                        pollutant discharge elimination system permit.
                    ``(E) Treatment facility.--The term `treatment
                facility' includes all wastewater treatment units used
                by a publicly owned treatment works to meet secondary
                treatment standards or higher, as required to attain
                water quality standards, under any operating
                conditions.
                    ``(F) Treatment works.--The term `treatment works'
                has the meaning given the term in section 212.
            ``(2) Prohibition.--A publicly owned treatment works is
        prohibited from performing a bypass unless--
                    ``(A)(i) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss
                of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;
                    ``(ii) there is not a feasible alternative to the
                bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment
                facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or
                maintenance during normal periods of equipment
                downtime; and
                    ``(iii) the treatment works provides notice of the
                bypass in accordance with this subsection; or
                    ``(B) the bypass does not cause effluent
                limitations to be exceeded, and the bypass is for
                essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of
                the treatment facility.
            ``(3) Limitation.--The requirement of paragraph (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
                    ``(B) the bypass occurred during normal periods of
                equipment downtime or preventive maintenance.
            ``(4) Immediate notice requirements.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A publicly owned treatment works
                shall provide to the entities described in subparagraph
                (B)--
                            ``(i) for any anticipated discharge, prior
                        notice of that discharge; and
                            ``(ii) for any unanticipated discharge, as
                        soon as practicable, but not later than--
                                    ``(I) for a treatment works with an
                                automated detection system, 2 hours
                                after the discharge begins; and
                                    ``(II) for a treatment works
                                without an automated detection system,
                                12 hours after the discharge begins.
                    ``(B) Notice.--The entities referred to in
                subparagraph (A) are--
                            ``(i) the Administrator or, in the case of
                        a State that has a permit program approved
                        under this section, the State;
                            ``(ii) each local health department or, if
                        a local health department does not exist, the
                        State health department;
                            ``(iii) the municipality in which the
                        discharge occurred and each municipality with
                        jurisdiction over waters that may be affected
                        by the discharge;
                            ``(iv) a daily newspaper of general
                        circulation in each county in which a
                        municipality described in clause (iii) is
                        located; and
                            ``(v) the general public through a
                        prominent announcement on a publicly accessible
                        Internet site of the treatment works.
                    ``(C) Contents.--The notice under subparagraph (A)
                shall include a description of--
                            ``(i) the volume and state of treatment of
                        the discharge;
                            ``(ii) the date and time of the discharge;
                            ``(iii) the expected duration of the
                        discharge;
                            ``(iv) the steps being taken to contain the
                        discharge, except for a discharge that is a wet
                        weather combined sewer overflow discharge;
                            ``(v) the location of the discharge, with
                        the maximum level of specificity practicable;
                        and
                            ``(vi) the cause for the discharge.
            ``(5) Follow-up notice requirements.--Each publicly owned
        treatment works that provides notice under paragraph (4)(B)
        shall provide to the Administrator (or to the State in the case
        of a State that has a permit program approved under this
        section), not later than 5 days after the date on which the
        publicly owned treatment works provides initial notice, a
        follow-up notice containing--
                    ``(A) a more full description of the cause of the
                discharge;
                    ``(B) the reason for the discharge;
                    ``(C) the period of discharge, including the exact
                dates and times;
                    ``(D) if the discharge has not been corrected, the
                anticipated time the discharge is expected to continue;
                    ``(E) the volume of the discharge resulting from
                the bypass;
                    ``(F) a description of any public access areas that
                has or may be impacted by the bypass; and
                    ``(G) steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate,
                and prevent reoccurrence of the discharge.
            ``(6) Public availability of notices.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 48 hours after
                providing or receiving a follow-up notice under
                paragraph (5), as applicable, a publicly owned
                treatment works and the Administrator (or the State, in
                the case of a State that has a permit program approved
                under this section) shall each post the follow-up
                notice on a publicly accessible, searchable database on
                the Internet.
                    ``(B) Annual publication.--The Administrator (or
                the State, in the case of a State that has a permit
                program approved under this section) shall annually
                publish and make available to the public a list of each
                of the treatment works from which the Administrator or
                the State, as applicable, received a follow-up notice
                under paragraph (5).
            ``(7) Sewage blending.--Bypasses prohibited by this section
        include bypasses resulting in discharges from a publicly owned
        treatment works that consist of effluent routed around
        treatment units and thereafter blended together with effluent
        from treatment units prior to discharge.
            ``(8) Implementation.--Not later than 180 days after the
        date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall
        establish procedures to ensure that permits issued under this
        section (or under a State permit program approved under this
        section) to a publicly owned treatment works include
        requirements to implement this subsection.
            ``(9) Increase in maximum civil penalty for violations
        occurring after january 1, 2033.--Notwithstanding section 309,
        in the case of a violation of this subsection occurring on or
        after January 1, 2033, or any violation of a permit limitation
        or condition implementing this subsection occurring after that
        date, the maximum civil penalty that shall be assessed for the
        violation shall be $100,000 per day for each day the violation
        occurs.
            ``(10) Applicability.--This subsection shall apply to a
        bypass occurring after the last day of the 1-year period
        beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GREAT LAKES CLEANUP FUND.

    (a) In General.--Title V of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(33 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 519 (33 U.S.C. 1251 note) as
        section 520; and
            (2) by inserting after section 518 (33 U.S.C. 1377) the
        following:

``SEC. 519. ESTABLISHMENT OF GREAT LAKES CLEANUP FUND.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the Great Lakes Cleanup
        Fund established by subsection (b).
            ``(2) Great lakes; great lakes states.--The terms `Great
        Lakes' and `Great Lakes States' have the meanings given the
        terms in section 118(a)(3).
    ``(b) Establishment of Fund.--There is established in the Treasury
of the United States a trust fund to be known as the `Great Lakes
Cleanup Fund' (referred to in this section as the `Fund').
    ``(c) Transfers to Fund.--Effective January 1, 2033, there are
authorized to be appropriated to the Fund amounts equivalent to the
penalties collected for violations of section 402(s).
    ``(d) Administration of Fund.--The Administrator shall administer
the Fund.
    ``(e) Use of Funds.--The Administrator shall--
            ``(1) make the amounts in the Fund available to the Great
        Lakes States for use in carrying out programs and activities
        for improving wastewater discharges into the Great Lakes,
        including habitat protection and wetland restoration; and
            ``(2) allocate those amounts among the Great Lakes States
        based on the proportion that--
                    ``(A) the amount attributable to a Great Lakes
                State for penalties collected for violations of section
                402(s); bears to
                    ``(B) the total amount of those penalties
                attributable to all Great Lakes States.
    ``(f) Priority.--In selecting programs and activities to be funded
using amounts made available under this section, a Great Lakes State
shall give priority consideration to programs and activities that
address violations of section 402(s) resulting in the collection of
penalties.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment to State Revolving Fund Program.--Section
607 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1387) is
amended--
            (1) by striking ``There is'' and inserting ``(a) In
        General.--There is''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Treatment of Great Lakes Cleanup Fund.--For purposes of this
title, amounts made available from the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund under
section 519 shall be treated as funds authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this title and as funds made available under this title,
except that the funds shall be made available to the Great Lakes States
in accordance with section 519.''.
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