1.This Act may be cited as the
Columbia River Restoration Act of
2010
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The Columbia River is the largest river in
the Pacific Northwest and the fourth largest river in the United States by
volume. The river is 1,243 miles long, and its drainage basin includes 259,000
square miles, extending into 7 States and British Columbia, Canada, and
including all or part of 5 national parks, the Columbia River Gorge National
Scenic Area, and the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
(2)The Columbia River
Basin and its tributaries provide significant ecological and economic benefits
to the Pacific Northwest and the entire United States. Traditionally, the
Columbia River Basin and its tributaries were the largest salmon producing
river system in the world, with annual returns peaking at as many as 30 million
fish. The Columbia River drainage basin includes more than 6 million acres of
irrigated agricultural land, and its 14 hydroelectric dams, combined with
additional dams on its tributaries, produce more hydroelectric power than any
other North American river.
(3)The Lower Columbia River Estuary stretches
146 miles from the Bonneville Dam to the mouth of the Pacific Ocean, and much
of this area is degraded. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in salmon tissue and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in salmon prey exceed estimated
thresholds for delayed mortality, increased disease susceptibility, and reduced
growth. Legacy contaminants (DDT and PCBs) banned in the 1970s are still
detected in river water, sediments, and juvenile Chinook salmon. Several
pesticides have been detected, including atrazine and simazine, which can
affect salmon behavior or act as hormone disruptors. Emerging contaminants,
such as hormone disruptors from pharmaceutical and personal care products, have
been found in river water and juvenile male salmon. These contaminants may
impair salmon growth, health, and reproduction.
(4)The Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin
includes 1,050 miles of the mainstem Columbia River upstream of the Bonneville
Dam, including the 1,040 miles of its largest tributary, the Snake River, and
all of the tributaries to both rivers. The Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA’s) Columbia River Basin Fish Contaminant Survey detected the presence of
92 priority pollutants, including PCBs, dioxins, furans, arsenic, mercury, and
DDE (a breakdown product of DDT), in fish that are consumed by the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama
Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Nez
Perce Tribe, as well as by other people consuming fish throughout the Columbia
River Basin. A fish consumption survey by the Columbia River Intertribal Fish
Commission showed that tribal members were eating 6 to 11 times more fish than
EPA’s estimated national average. The nuclear and toxic contamination at the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation presents an ongoing risk of contamination in the
Middle Columbia Basin. Sampling of sediments by the EPA in 2004 documented
widespread presence of toxic flame retardants known as polyrominated diphenyl
ethers.
(5)Contamination of
the Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin has a direct impact on water quality
and habitat quality in the Lower Columbia River Estuary. Investments in habitat
restoration and toxics reduction in the Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin
can have significant benefits for fish and wildlife throughout the entire
basin.
(6)Together with the
Governors of Oregon and Washington, the EPA created the Lower Columbia River
Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership) in 1995 to provide regional
coordination to focus on the lower river, to advance the science of the
ecosystem, and to deliver environmental results. The Estuary Partnership was
formed within the National Estuary Program and provides a structure for
organization and collaboration to implement Federal priorities. The Estuary
Partnership includes all key Federal agencies as part of its management and
governing structure, including the EPA, the United States Geological Survey
(USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Army
Corps of Engineers, the Forest Service, and tribal, State, and local
governments.
(7)The Columbia River
Basin was designated by the EPA as an Estuary of National
Significance
in 1995 and a Large Aquatic Ecosystem
in
2006.
(8)The Estuary
Partnership has developed an unparalleled 2-State, public and private
partnership, including unprecedented collaborative efforts among key Federal
partners, including the EPA, the NOAA, the USGS, and the Army Corps of
Engineers to advance Federal goals, and the Estuary Partnership and its
partners have gathered scientific information and compiled data, and have made
significant gains in habitat protection and environmental education.
(9)Despite these
advances, further degradation exists and contaminants persist in the Columbia
River Basin and are impairing the health of fish, wildlife, and humans.
Degraded conditions in the river exacerbate the challenges already faced by the
13 species of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin listed as
threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
(10)The Estuary Partnership
Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan
(1999), the
Northwest Power and Conservation Council Lower Columbia Province
Plan
(2004, amended 2008), the draft NOAA Columbia River Estuary
Recovery Module for Salmon and Steelhead
(2010), the States of Oregon,
Idaho, and Washington Recovery Plans, the Biological Opinion for the
Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS)
(2000, 2004, 2008), and the
EPA Columbia Basin State of the River Report for Toxics
(2009)
consistently identify habitat loss and toxic contamination as threats to fish
and wildlife.
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)In
this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)The term Action Plan
means the
Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction Action Plan
developed by
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Columbia River Toxics Reduction
Working Group in 2010, including any amendments thereto.
(2)The term Comprehensive Plan
means the
Estuary Partnership Comprehensive Conservation and Management
Plan
adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Governors
of Oregon and Washington on October 20, 1999, under section 320, including any
amendments thereto.
(3)The term Estuary Partnership
means the
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, an entity created by the States of
Oregon and Washington and the Environmental Protection Agency under section
320.
(4)Lower Columbia
River and EstuaryThe term Lower Columbia River and
Estuary
means the region consisting of the lower 146 miles of the
Columbia River Basin from the Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean.
(5)Middle and Upper
Columbia River BasinThe term
Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin
means the region
consisting of the United States portion of the Columbia River Basin above
Bonneville Dam, including the Snake River (and its tributaries) and other
tributaries of the Columbia River.
(6)The term Team Leader
means the Team Leader
appointed under subsection (b).
(b)
(1)The
Administrator shall establish in the Environmental Protection Agency a Columbia
River Program Team. The Team shall be located within the Oregon Operations
Office for Region 10 of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2)Appointment of
Team LeaderThe Administrator shall appoint a Team Leader, who,
by reason of management experience and technical expertise relating to the
Columbia River Basin, shall be highly qualified to support the development and
implementation of projects, programs, and studies necessary to implement the
Action Plan.
(3)Delegation of
authority; staffingThe Administrator shall delegate to the Team
Leader such authority and provide such additional staff as may be necessary to
carry out this section.
(c)
(1)In carrying out this section, the Administrator, acting
through the Team Leader, shall—
(A)assist and support
the implementation of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan;
(B)coordinate the implementation of the Action
Plan and the Comprehensive Plan, and the development of any updates to those
plans, with programs and projects in the Middle and Upper Columbia River
Basin;
(C)make such other updates to the Action Plan
and the Comprehensive Plan as the Administrator, in consultation with
appropriate Federal agencies, the States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho,
tribal governments, local governments, and other public and private interests
in the Columbia River Basin, considers appropriate;
(D)provide funding
and make grants for implementation of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive
Plan and projects, programs, and studies consistent with the priorities of the
Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan;
(E)promote innovative
methodologies and technologies that are cost effective and consistent with the
identified goals and objectives of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan
and the permitting processes of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(F)coordinate the
major functions of the Federal Government related to the implementation of the
Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan, including projects, programs, and
studies for—
(i)water quality
improvements;
(ii)toxics reduction
and monitoring;
(iii)wetland,
riverine, and estuary restoration and protection;
(iv)nearshore and
endangered species recovery; and
(v)stewardship and
environmental education;
(G)coordinate the
research and planning projects authorized under this section with Federal
agencies, State agencies, tribal governments, universities, and the Estuary
Partnership, including conducting or commissioning studies considered necessary
for strengthened implementation of the Action Plan and the Comprehensive
Plan;
(H)track progress
toward meeting the identified goals and objectives of the Action Plan and the
Comprehensive Plan by—
(i)implementing and
supporting a project, program, and monitoring system consistent with
performance-based ecosystem standards and management; and
(ii)coordinating,
managing, and reporting environmental data related to the Action Plan and the
Comprehensive Plan in a manner consistent with methodologies utilized by the
Estuary Partnership, including making such data and reports on such data
available to the public, including on the Internet, in a timely fashion;
and
(I)collect and make
available to the public, including on the Internet, publications and other
forms of information relating to the environmental quality of the Lower
Columbia River and Estuary.
(2)The Administrator, acting through the Team Leader, may
enter into interagency agreements, make intergovernmental personnel
appointments, provide funding, make grants, and utilize other available methods
in carrying out the duties under this subsection.
(d)Not
later than one year after the date of enactment of this section, and biennially
thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report that—
(1)summarizes the
progress made in implementing the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan and
the progress made toward achieving the identified goals and objectives
described in such plans;
(2)summarizes any
modifications to the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan made in the period
immediately preceding the report;
(3)incorporates
specific recommendations concerning the implementation of the Action Plan and
the Comprehensive Plan; and
(4)summarizes the
roles and progress of each Federal agency that has jurisdiction in the Columbia
River Basin toward meeting the identified goals and objectives of the Action
Plan and the Comprehensive Plan.
(e)Implementation
of action plan and comprehensive plan
(1)The Administrator, acting through the Team Leader and in
consultation with the Estuary Partnership, shall carry out projects, programs,
and studies to implement the Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan.
(2)Priority
projects, programs, and studiesThe Administrator may give
special emphasis to projects, programs, and studies that are identified as
priorities by the Estuary Partnership in the Action Plan and the Comprehensive
Plan.
(3)
(A)The Administrator, acting through the Team Leader, is
authorized to make grants for projects, programs, and studies to implement the
Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan.
(B)In
making grants using funds appropriated to carry out this paragraph for a fiscal
year, the Administrator, acting through the Team Leader, shall use—
(i)not less than 40
percent of the funds to make a comprehensive grant to the Estuary Partnership
to manage implementation of the Comprehensive Plan;
(ii)not less than 50 percent of the funds to
make grants, as allocated by the Team Leader, for projects, programs and
studies prioritized in the Action Plan throughout the Columbia River Basin, and
for other coordinated projects, programs, and studies in the Middle and Upper
Columbia River Basin; and
(iii)not more than 5 percent of the funds for
project management, administration, and reporting.
(4)The Federal share of the costs for which a grant is made
under this section shall be 75 percent, except that the Administrator may
increase the Federal share in such circumstances as the Administrator
determines appropriate.
(f)The President, as part of the President’s annual budget
submission to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code,
shall submit information regarding each Federal agency involved in protection
and restoration of the Columbia River Basin, including—
(1)an interagency
crosscut budget that displays for each Federal agency—
(A)the amounts
obligated in the preceding fiscal year for protection and restoration projects,
programs, and studies relating to the Columbia River Basin;
(B)the estimated
budget for the current fiscal year for protection and restoration projects,
programs, and studies relating to the Columbia River Basin; and
(C)the proposed
budget for protection and restoration projects, programs, and studies relating
to the Columbia River Basin; and
(2)a description and
assessment of the Federal role in the development and implementation of the
Action Plan and the Comprehensive Plan and the specific role of each Federal
agency involved in protection and restoration of the Columbia River Basin,
including specific projects, programs, and studies conducted or planned to
achieve the identified goals and objectives of the Action Plan and the
Comprehensive Plan.
(g)Authorization of
AppropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to the
Administrator to carry out this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2011 through 2016. Such sums shall remain available until
expended.
.