[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2957 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2957

 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize funding 
   to carry out certain water quality restoration projects for Lake 
        Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 1999

  Mr. Vitter (for himself and Mr. Jefferson) 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 authorize funding 
   to carry out certain water quality restoration projects for Lake 
        Pontchartrain Basin, Louisiana, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the Lake Pontchartrain Basin forms one of the largest 
        natural estuaries in the continental United States;
            (2) the Basin drains an area of almost 5,000 square miles 
        from 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mississippi counties;
            (3) the ecology of the Basin provides the diverse essential 
        habitat that supports numerous species of fish, birds, mammals, 
        and plants;
            (4) the extensive wetlands of the Basin provide the primary 
        nursery for much of the seafood harvested in the Gulf Coast;
            (5) urbanization, increasing population growth, and rapid 
        development combined with intensive land use have resulted in 
        dramatic threats to the environment and ecology of the Basin;
            (6) sewage and septic tank discharges, animal waste from 
        farms, herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, stormwater runoff, 
        sediments from construction, and sewage from fishing camps are 
        all among the many increasing threats to the Basin;
            (7) a major source of pollution in the Basin is raw or 
        partially treated human waste from--
                    (A) communities with poor sewer systems or without 
                sewer systems; and
                    (B) septic tank systems that are not operating 
                properly;
            (8) stormwater discharges that combine with effluent from 
        sanitary discharges from broken lines are channeled directly 
        into Lake Pontchartrain or adjacent bodies of water;
            (9) a number of State and local government agencies are 
        working on restoration efforts that have a direct impact on 
        water quality in the Basin, including the Department of 
        Environmental Quality of Louisiana, the New Orleans Sewerage 
        and Water Board, Jefferson Parish, and other governmental 
        agencies;
            (10) a number of non-regulatory organizations, such as the 
        Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and the University of New 
        Orleans, are performing substantial, essential roles in 
        restoration efforts;
            (11) the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, the 
        University of New Orleans, and the Regional Planning Commission 
        for Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany, 
        Louisiana, have entered into a memorandum of understanding to 
        better facilitate the restoration and preservation of water 
        quality and habitats throughout the Basin; and
            (12) the programs and activities of the various Federal 
        agencies involved with administration of laws, programs, and 
        assets that affect the water quality of the Basin, including 
        the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of 
        Engineers, and other agencies, lack coordination and sufficient 
        resources to measure and remediate water quality problems in 
        the Basin.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to coordinate the restoration efforts of Federal, 
        State, and local agencies and non-regulatory organizations in 
        the restoration of the Basin;
            (2) to establish the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration 
        Program within the Environmental Protection Agency; and
            (3) to authorize and provide adequate resources for 
        restoration projects in the Basin.

SEC. 3. LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN.

    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. 121. LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Basin.--The term `Basin' means the Lake Pontchartrain 
        Basin located in the State of Louisiana.
            ``(2) Council.--The term `Council' means the Lake 
        Pontchartrain Executive Council established under subsection 
        (b)(3)(A).
            ``(3) Management plan.--The term `management plan' means 
        the watershed management plan developed under subsection 
        (b)(3)(B).
            ``(4) Program.--The term `program' means the Lake 
        Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program established under 
        subsection (b)(1).
    ``(b) Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 
        establish within the Environmental Protection Agency the Lake 
        Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program.
            ``(2) Purposes.--The purposes of the program shall be--
                    ``(A) to coordinate efforts among and provide 
                resources for Federal, State, and local governmental 
                agencies and non-regulatory organizations to reduce 
                pollution in the Basin; and
                    ``(B) to restore the ecological health of the 
                Basin.
            ``(3) Administration.--
                    ``(A) Lake pontchartrain executive council.--Not 
                later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
                section, the Administrator shall establish the Lake 
                Pontchartrain Executive Council, to be composed of the 
                following individuals (or their designees):
                            ``(i) The Administrator.
                            ``(ii) The Governor of the State of 
                        Louisiana.
                            ``(iii) The Chairman of the Regional 
                        Planning Commission for Jefferson, Orleans, St. 
                        Bernard, and St. Tammany, Louisiana.
                            ``(iv) The Chancellor of the University of 
                        New Orleans.
                            ``(v) The Executive Director of the Lake 
                        Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
                    ``(B) Management plan.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Not later than 180 days 
                        after the date of enactment of this section, 
                        the Administrator, in cooperation with 
                        appropriate Federal, State, and local 
                        authorities, shall assist the Council in 
                        developing a comprehensive, multiuse, watershed 
                        management plan for the restoration and 
                        protection of the Basin.
                            ``(ii) Assistance.--Assistance provided by 
                        the Administrator under subparagraph (A) shall 
                        include grants for and technical assistance 
                        in--
                                    ``(I) developing an annual work 
                                plan endorsed by the Council;
                                    ``(II) supporting Basin-wide 
                                environmental monitoring and research 
                                to provide technical and scientific 
                                information necessary to support 
                                management decisions;
                                    ``(III) developing a comprehensive 
                                research plan to address the technical 
                                needs of the program; and
                                    ``(IV) recommending restoration 
                                projects for implementation by the 
                                State of Louisiana, parishes, and 
                                nongovernmental entities.
    ``(c) Restoration Projects.--In accordance with the management 
plan, the Administrator shall provide funding and oversight to carry 
out voluntary restoration projects for the Basin that--
            ``(1) address human waste problems in the Basin by 
        providing a cost-sharing construction and education program 
        that offers incentives to parishes and local communities to 
        improve sewage treatment facilities and procedures (including 
        the continuation of funding for the inflow and infiltration 
        projects of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, Louisiana);
            ``(2) provide critical assistance to agricultural operators 
        designed to address and manage agricultural runoff into the 
        Basin;
            ``(3) provide for the rerouting of discharges from selected 
        pumping stations through adjacent wetlands, using existing 
        canals and small water control structures, in order to use 
        natural wetland to filter pollutants from urban stormwater;
            ``(4) improve Basin water quality--
                    ``(A) by eliminating discharges of raw or partially 
                treated sewage from fishing camps;
                    ``(B) where there are approved municipal or 
                community sewage systems, by providing tie-ins from 
                those systems for fishing camps; and
                    ``(C) by establishing new sanitation and sewage 
                systems where needed;
            ``(5) reverse the trend of decreasing acreage of coastal 
        wetlands in the Basin by creating new sustainable wetland 
        habitat; and
            ``(6) retain the integrity of natural structural elements 
        in the coastal landscape, such as ridges and barrier islands, 
        in order to reduce storm surge impacts to essential habitats 
        and human infrastructure.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary, to remain available until 
expended--
            ``(1) to continue to provide priority funding for the New 
        Orleans Inflow and Infiltration Project sponsored by the New 
        Orleans Sewerage and Water Board and Jefferson Parish, 
        Louisiana; and
            ``(2) to carry out subsections (b) and (c).''.
                                 <all>