[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 208 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 208

 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Great 
Lakes National Program Office of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
 develop, implement, monitor, and report on a series of indicators of 
  water quality and related environmental factors in the Great Lakes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 31, 2005

 Mr. Levin (for himself, Mr. DeWine, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Voinovich) 
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 direct the Great 
Lakes National Program Office of the Environmental Protection Agency to 
 develop, implement, monitor, and report on a series of indicators of 
  water quality and related environmental factors in 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 Quality Indicators 
and Monitoring Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there are no comprehensive, regularly-collected data 
        that reveal whether the water quality or related environmental 
        factors of the Great Lakes have improved as a result of efforts 
        to remediate and protect the Great Lakes;
            (2) that lack of data was confirmed in May 2003 in a report 
        by the Government Accountability Office that concluded existing 
        data were inadequate to assess the overall progress of 
        restoration efforts in the Great Lakes; and
            (3) without those data, it is impossible to determine 
        whether--
                    (A) progress is being made toward achieving the 
                goals contained in the Great Lakes Water Quality 
                Agreement between the United States and Canada; or
                    (B) Federal and State water quality standards and 
                remediation programs are effective.

SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY INDICATORS AND MONITORING.

    (a) In General.--Section 118(c)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268(c)(1)) is amended by striking subparagraph 
(B) and inserting the following:
                    ``(B)(i) not later than 2 years after the date of 
                enactment of this clause, in cooperation with Canada 
                and appropriate Federal agencies (including the United 
                States Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Fish 
                and Wildlife Service), develop and implement a set of 
                science-based indicators of water quality and related 
                environmental factors in the Great Lakes, including, at 
                a minimum, measures of toxic pollutants that have 
                accumulated in the Great Lakes for a substantial period 
                of time, as determined by the Program Office;
                    ``(ii) not later than 4 years after the date of 
                enactment of this clause--
                            ``(I) establish a Federal network for the 
                        regular monitoring of, and collection of data 
                        throughout, the Great Lakes basin with respect 
                        to the indicators described in clause (i); and
                            ``(II) collect an initial set of benchmark 
                        data from the network; and
                    ``(iii) not later than 2 years after the date of 
                collection of the data described in clause (ii)(II), 
                and biennially thereafter, in addition to the report 
                required under paragraph (10), submit to Congress, and 
                make available to the public, a report that--
                            ``(I) describes the water quality and 
                        related environmental factors of the Great 
                        Lakes (including any changes in those factors), 
                        as determined through the regular monitoring of 
                        indicators under clause (ii)(I) for the period 
                        covered by the report; and
                            ``(II) identifies any emerging problems in 
                        the water quality or related environmental 
                        factors of the Great Lakes.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 118 of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268) is amended by striking 
subsection (h) and inserting the following:
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to carry out this section (other than subsection (c)(1)(B)) 
        $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.
            ``(2) Great lakes water quality indicators and 
        monitoring.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
        out subsection (c)(1)(B)--
                    ``(A) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
                    ``(B) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;
                    ``(C) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and
                    ``(D) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.''.
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