[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4917 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4917

  To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating to marine 
                          sanitation devices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2000

  Mr. Saxton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating to marine 
                          sanitation devices.

    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 ``Recreational Waters Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Performance standards for marine sanitation devices 
        were first authorized by the Federal Water Pollution Control 
        Act.
            (2) Marine sanitation device standards have not been 
        updated since regulations were first implemented pursuant to 
        that Act.
            (3) Advances in marine sanitation device technology have 
        now made it practical for wastes to be treated on board a 
        vessel to the extent that coliform count can be reduced below 
        that required for shellfish harvest, and provide treatment that 
        is superior to that required by shoreside treatment facilities.
            (4) Setting new marine sanitation device performance 
        standards will recognize existing technological advances and 
        spur further innovation to a level of on-board waste treatment 
        far superior to that envisioned by the Federal Water Pollution 
        Control Act.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is (1) to revise the minimum 
standards for marine sanitation devices so that such standards exceed 
the fecal coliform standards of each of the 50 States, and (2) to 
promote the use of the best available technology in type I and type II 
marine sanitation devices.

SEC. 3. REVISED STANDARDS FOR MARINE SANITATION DEVICES.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall complete a 
review of the capabilities of existing marine sanitation technology and 
publish revised standards for marine sanitation devices pursuant to 
section 312(c)(1)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1322(c)(1)(A)). The revised standards shall require a baseline 
effluent water quality for fecal coliform of not more than 10 fecal 
coliform per 100 milliliters and shall require a reduction in 
biological oxygen demand of at least 35 percent.

SEC. 4. STATE PROHIBITION.

    Section 312(f)(3) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1322(f)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``After''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) A prohibition under subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a 
vessel that operates a type I or type II marine sanitation device that 
meets the standards for marine sanitation devices revised pursuant to 
section 2 of the Recreational Waters Protection Act and published under 
subsection (c)(1)(A) after the date of enactment of this 
subparagraph.''.
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