1.This Act may be cited as the
Puget Sound Recovery Act of
2008
.
2.The Congress finds the following:
(1)Puget Sound, as
the Nation’s second largest estuary, is a cornerstone of the Pacific
Northwest’s regional identity and at the heart of the region’s prosperity,
supporting a thriving natural resource and marine industry.
(2)The water quality
of Puget Sound is in decline, with areas of deadly low oxygen and increasing
toxic pollutants. Resident species such as salmon and orcas are
endangered.
(3)The declining
health of Puget Sound threatens the economic and environmental vitality of the
Pacific Northwest.
(4)The Governor of
the State of Washington has taken steps to combat the decline of Puget Sound at
the State government level.
(5)The Federal
Government should now match the efforts of the State of Washington. The
Environmental Protection Agency should take the lead at the Federal level to
create a comprehensive recovery package for Puget Sound, in coordination with
the comprehensive conservation and management plan for Puget Sound, and should
establish a Puget Sound office in the State of Washington. Other Federal
agencies to be involved should include the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, the National Park Service, the United States Geological Survey, the
Forest Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Corps of
Engineers, and the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, and
Transportation.
(6)The Puget Sound
recovery plan efforts should be listed in the President’s annual budget and
should serve as a model of the use of science and efficient coordination
between Federal, tribal, State, regional, and local efforts with an emphasis on
monitoring, assessment, and reaching demonstrable goals.
(7)Canada should join
in this enhanced effort, given that Puget Sound and the Georgia Straits are the
same waterway.
3.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:
123.
(a)
(1)The
Administrator shall establish in the Environmental Protection Agency a Puget
Sound Program Office (in this section referred to as the
Office
).
(2)The Office shall be
headed by a Director who, by reason of management experience and technical
expertise relating to Puget Sound, is highly qualified to direct the
development of programs and plans on a variety of issues relating to Puget
Sound. The Office shall be located in the State of Washington.
(3)Delegation of
authority; staffingThe Administrator shall delegate to the
Director such authority, and provide such additional staff, as may be necessary
to carry out the duties of the Director under this section.
(b)
(1)The Director shall
assist the management conference convened for Puget Sound under section 320 (in
this section referred to as the Conference
) in carrying out its
goals.
(2)In carrying out paragraph (1), the Director shall—
(A)assist and support the implementation of
the comprehensive conservation and management plan developed by the Conference
pursuant to section 320 (in this section referred to as the
Comprehensive Plan
), including efforts to establish, within the
process for granting watershed general permits, a system for promoting
innovative methodologies and technologies that are cost-effective and
consistent with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan;
(B)to the extent practicable, coordinate the
major functions of the Federal Government related to the implementation of the
Comprehensive Plan, including programs and activities for water quality
improvements, wetland and estuary restoration and protection, endangered
species recovery, and research and studies commissioned under this Act;
(C)conduct or commission studies and research
considered necessary for strengthened implementation of the Comprehensive Plan,
including studies and research described in paragraph (3);
(D)coordinate and
manage environmental data related to Puget Sound;
(E)coordinate the
grant, research, and planning programs authorized under this section;
(F)coordinate
activities for the protection of Puget Sound and the Georgia Straits with
Canadian authorities;
(G)coordinate activities and implementation
responsibilities, including activities under species recovery plans, through
cooperation with other Federal agencies that have jurisdiction in the Puget
Sound watershed;
(H)collect and make
available to the public publications, and other forms of information the
Conference determines to be appropriate, relating to the environmental quality
of Puget Sound; and
(I)biennially issue a
report to Congress that—
(i)summarizes the progress made in
implementing the Comprehensive Plan;
(ii)summarizes any
modifications to the Comprehensive Plan in the 12-month period immediately
preceding such report; and
(iii)incorporates specific recommendations
concerning the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.
(3)Areas for studies
and research under paragraph (2)(C) shall include—
(A)population growth
and the adequacy of wastewater treatment facilities and on-site septic
systems;
(B)the use of physical, chemical, and
biological methods for nutrient removal in sewage treatment plants;
(C)contaminated
sediments and dredging activities;
(D)nonpoint source
pollution abatement, including pollution from stormwater discharges, and land
use activities in the Puget Sound watershed;
(E)wetland, riparian,
and near shore protection and restoration;
(F)flood abatement
and floodplain restoration techniques;
(G)the impacts of
forest and agricultural practices on the health of Puget Sound;
(H)atmospheric
deposition of pollutants into the Puget Sound watershed;
(I)water quality
requirements to sustain fish, shellfish, and wildlife populations, and the use
of indicator species to assess environmental quality;
(J)State water quality programs, for their
adequacy pursuant to implementation of the Comprehensive Plan;
(K)options for
long-term financing of wastewater treatment projects and water pollution
control programs;
(L)water usage and
efficiency;
(M)toxic pollutants; and
(N)such other areas as
the Director considers appropriate.
(4)The Director may
enter into interagency agreements, make intergovernmental personnel
appointments, and utilize other available methods in carrying out the
Director’s duties under this subsection.
(c)Grants To
implement Comprehensive Plan
(1)The Administrator may make grants to eligible recipients
for projects and studies that will help implement the Comprehensive
Plan.
(2)Projects and
studies eligible for assistance under this subsection include planning,
research, modeling, construction, monitoring, implementation, citizen
involvement and education, and such other activities as the Administrator
considers appropriate.
(3)The Federal share of the cost of a project or study
receiving grant assistance under this subsection shall not exceed 50 percent of
the cost of the project or study.
(4)Eligible
recipient definedIn this subsection, the term eligible
recipient means a State, interstate, tribal, regional, or local water
pollution control agency or other public or nonprofit private agency,
institution, or organization.
(d)Grants for
projects To address sewage and stormwater discharges
(1)The Administrator may
make grants to eligible recipients for projects to address sewage and
stormwater discharges into the Puget Sound watershed.
(2)Projects eligible for assistance under this subsection
include demonstration and research projects that provide treatment for, or that
minimize, sewage or stormwater discharges using one or more approaches,
including decentralized or distributed stormwater controls, decentralized
wastewater treatment, low-impact development practices, conservation easements,
stream buffers, and wetlands restoration.
(3)
(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), the Administrator shall
award grants under this subsection on a competitive basis.
(B)In awarding grants under this subsection, the
Administrator may give priority to a project located in a distressed
community.
(4)
(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), the Federal share of the
cost of a project receiving grant assistance under this subsection shall not
exceed 75 percent of the cost of the project.
(B)The Federal share of the cost of a project receiving
grant assistance under this subsection shall not exceed 100 percent of the cost
of the project if the project is located in a distressed community.
(5)In
this subsection, the following definitions apply:
(A)The term
eligible recipient means a State, interstate, tribal, regional, or
local water pollution control agency or other public or nonprofit private
agency, institution, or organization.
(B)The term distressed community means a
community that meets affordability criteria established by the State in which
the community is located, if such criteria are developed after public review
and comment.
(e)
(1)The President, as
part of the annual budget of the United States Government, shall submit
information regarding each Federal agency involved in Puget Sound protection
and restoration, including—
(A)an interagency
crosscut budget that displays for each Federal agency—
(i)amounts obligated in the preceding fiscal
year for protection and restoration activities relating to Puget Sound;
(ii)the estimated budget for the current fiscal
year for protection and restoration activities relating to Puget Sound;
and
(iii)the proposed budget for protection and
restoration activities relating to Puget Sound; and
(B)a description of the Federal role in the
Puget Sound Program and the specific role of each agency involved in Puget
Sound protection and restoration, including specific activities conducted or
planned to achieve the goals of the Comprehensive Plan.
(2)Coordination
with the conferenceIn
carrying out this subsection, the President, to the extent practical, shall
coordinate reporting, data collection, and planning activities with the
Conference.
(f)There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this
section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2009 through
2013.
.