[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 753 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 753

    To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that 
publicly owned treatment works monitor for and report sewer overflows, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2009

 Mr. Bishop of New York (for himself and Mr. LoBiondo) 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 ensure that 
publicly owned treatment works monitor for and report sewer overflows, 
                        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 ``Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-
Know Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1362) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(26) Treatment works.--The term `treatment works' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 212.''.

SEC. 3. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF SEWER 
              OVERFLOWS.

    Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1342) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(r) Sewer Overflow Monitoring, Reporting, and Notifications.--
            ``(1) General requirements.--After the last day of the 180-
        day period beginning on the date on which regulations are 
        issued under paragraph (4), a permit issued, renewed, or 
        modified under this section by the Administrator or the State, 
        as the case may be, for a publicly owned treatment works shall 
        require, at a minimum, beginning on the date of the issuance, 
        modification, or renewal, that the owner or operator of the 
        treatment works--
                    ``(A) institute and utilize a feasible methodology, 
                technology, or management program for monitoring sewer 
                overflows to alert the owner or operator to the 
                occurrence of a sewer overflow in a timely manner;
                    ``(B) in the case of a sewer overflow that has the 
                potential to affect human health, notify the public of 
                the overflow as soon as practicable but not later than 
                24 hours after the time the owner or operator knows of 
                the overflow;
                    ``(C) in the case of a sewer overflow that may 
                imminently and substantially endanger human health, 
                notify public health authorities and other affected 
                entities, such as public water systems, of the overflow 
                immediately after the owner or operator knows of the 
                overflow;
                    ``(D) report each sewer overflow on its discharge 
                monitoring report to the Administrator or the State, as 
                the case may be, by describing--
                            ``(i) the magnitude, duration, and 
                        suspected cause of the overflow;
                            ``(ii) the steps taken or planned to 
                        reduce, eliminate, or prevent recurrence of the 
                        overflow; and
                            ``(iii) the steps taken or planned to 
                        mitigate the impact of the overflow; and
                    ``(E) annually report to the Administrator or the 
                State, as the case may be, the total number of sewer 
                overflows in a calendar year, including--
                            ``(i) the details of how much wastewater 
                        was released per incident;
                            ``(ii) the duration of each sewer overflow;
                            ``(iii) the location of the overflow and 
                        any potentially affected receiving waters;
                            ``(iv) the responses taken to clean up the 
                        overflow; and
                            ``(v) the actions taken to mitigate impacts 
                        and avoid further sewer overflows at the site.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--
                    ``(A) Notification requirements.--The notification 
                requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C) shall not 
                apply to a sewer overflow that is a wastewater backup 
                into a single-family residence.
                    ``(B) Reporting requirements.--The reporting 
                requirements of paragraphs (1)(D) and (1)(E) shall not 
                apply to a sewer overflow that is a release of 
                wastewater that occurs in the course of maintenance of 
                the treatment works, is managed consistently with the 
                treatment works' best management practices, and is 
                intended to prevent sewer overflows.
            ``(3) Report to epa.--Each State shall provide to the 
        Administrator annually a summary of sewer overflows that 
        occurred in the State.
            ``(4) Rulemaking by epa.--Not later than one year after the 
        date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator, after 
        providing notice and an opportunity for public comment, shall 
        issue regulations to implement this subsection, including 
        regulations to--
                    ``(A) establish a set of criteria to guide the 
                owner or operator of a publicly owned treatment works 
                in--
                            ``(i) assessing whether a sewer overflow 
                        has the potential to affect human health or may 
                        imminently and substantially endanger human 
                        health; and
                            ``(ii) developing communication measures 
                        that are sufficient to give notice under 
                        paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C); and
                    ``(B) define the terms `feasible' and `timely' as 
                such terms apply to paragraph (1)(A), including site 
                specific conditions.
            ``(5) Approval of state notification programs.--
                    ``(A) Requests for approval.--
                            ``(i) In general.--After the date of 
                        issuance of regulations under paragraph (4), a 
                        State may submit to the Administrator evidence 
                        that the State has in place a legally 
                        enforceable notification program that is 
                        substantially equivalent to or exceeds the 
                        requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C).
                            ``(ii) Program review and authorization.--
                        If the evidence submitted by a State under 
                        clause (i) shows the notification program of 
                        the State to be substantially equivalent to or 
                        exceeds the requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) 
                        and (1)(C), the Administrator shall authorize 
                        the State to carry out such program instead of 
                        the requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and 
                        (1)(C).
                            ``(iii) Factors for determining substantial 
                        equivalency.--In carrying out a review of a 
                        State notification program under clause (ii), 
                        the Administrator shall take into account the 
                        scope of sewer overflows for which notification 
                        is required, the length of time during which 
                        notification must be made, the scope of persons 
                        who must be notified of sewer overflows, the 
                        scope of enforcement activities ensuring that 
                        notifications of sewer overflows are made, and 
                        such other factors as the Administrator 
                        considers appropriate.
                    ``(B) Review period.--If a State submits evidence 
                with respect to a notification program under 
                subparagraph (A)(i) on or before the last day of the 
                30-day period beginning on the date of issuance of 
                regulations under paragraph (4), the requirements of 
                paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C) shall not begin to apply 
                to a publicly owned treatment works located in the 
                State until the date on which the Administrator 
                completes a review of the notification program under 
                subparagraph (A)(ii).
                    ``(C) Withdrawal of authorization.--If the 
                Administrator, after conducting a public hearing, 
                determines that a State is not administering and 
                enforcing a State notification program authorized under 
                subparagraph (A)(ii) in accordance with the 
                requirements of this paragraph, the Administrator shall 
                so notify the State and, if appropriate corrective 
                action is not taken within a reasonable time, not to 
                exceed 90 days, the Administrator shall withdraw 
                authorization of such program and enforce the 
                requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C) with 
                respect to the State.
            ``(6) Special rules concerning application of notification 
        requirements.--After the last day of the 30-day period 
        beginning on the date of issuance of regulations under 
        paragraph (4), the requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C) 
        shall--
                    ``(A) apply to the owner or operator of a publicly 
                owned treatment works and be subject to enforcement 
                under section 309, and
                    ``(B) supersede any notification requirements 
                contained in a permit issued under this section for the 
                treatment works to the extent that the notification 
                requirements are less stringent than the notification 
                requirements of paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C),
        until such date as a permit is issued, renewed, or modified 
        under this section for the treatment works in accordance with 
        paragraph (1).
            ``(7) Definitions.--In this subsection, the following 
        definitions apply:
                    ``(A) Sanitary sewer overflow.--The term `sanitary 
                sewer overflow' means an overflow, spill, release, or 
                diversion of wastewater from a sanitary sewer system. 
                Such term does not include municipal combined sewer 
                overflows or other discharges from the combined portion 
                of a municipal combined storm and sanitary sewer system 
                and does not include wastewater backups into buildings 
                caused by a blockage or other malfunction of a building 
                lateral that is privately owned. Such term includes 
                overflows or releases of wastewater that reach waters 
                of the United States, overflows or releases of 
                wastewater in the United States that do not reach 
                waters of the United States, and wastewater backups 
                into buildings that are caused by blockages or flow 
                conditions in a sanitary sewer other than a building 
                lateral.
                    ``(B) Sewer overflow.--The term `sewer overflow' 
                means a sanitary sewer overflow or a municipal combined 
                sewer overflow.
                    ``(C) Single-family residence.--The term `single-
                family residence' means an individual dwelling unit, 
                including an apartment, condominium, house, or 
                dormitory. Such term does not include the common areas 
                of a multi-dwelling structure.''.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Purpose of State Revolving Fund.--Section 601(a) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' the first place it appears; and
            (2) by inserting after ``section 320'' the following: ``, 
        and (4) for the implementation of requirements to monitor for 
        sewer overflows under section 402''.
    (b) Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Funds.--Section 603(c) 
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' the first place it appears; and
            (2) by inserting after ``section 320 of this Act'' the 
        following: ``, and (4) for the implementation of requirements 
        to monitor for sewer overflows under section 402''.
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