[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2018 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2018

   To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to preserve the 
authority of each State to make determinations relating to the State's 
            water quality standards, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 2011

Mr. Mica (for himself, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Shuster, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Coble, 
  Mr. Barletta, Mr. Landry, Mr. Duncan of Tennessee, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. 
 Crawford, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Critz, Mr. Altmire, 
Mr. Holden, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Gary G. Miller of California, Mr. Young of 
   Alaska, Mrs. Schmidt, and Mr. Rogers of Kentucky) 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 preserve the 
authority of each State to make determinations relating to the State's 
            water quality standards, 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 ``Clean Water Cooperative Federalism 
Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. STATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.

    (a) State Water Quality Standards.--Section 303(c)(4) of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(c)(4)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses 
        (i) and (ii), respectively;
            (2) by striking ``(4)'' and inserting ``(4)(A)'';
            (3) by striking ``The Administrator shall promulgate'' and 
        inserting the following:
    ``(B) The Administrator shall promulgate''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A)(ii), the Administrator may 
not promulgate a revised or new standard for a pollutant in any case in 
which the State has submitted to the Administrator and the 
Administrator has approved a water quality standard for that pollutant, 
unless the State concurs with the Administrator's determination that 
the revised or new standard is necessary to meet the requirements of 
this Act.''.
    (b) Federal Licenses and Permits.--Section 401(a) of such Act (33 
U.S.C. 1341(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(7) With respect to any discharge, if a State or interstate 
agency having jurisdiction over the navigable waters at the point where 
the discharge originates or will originate determines under paragraph 
(1) that the discharge will comply with the applicable provisions of 
sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307, the Administrator may not take 
any action to supersede the determination.''.
    (c) State NPDES Permit Programs.--Section 402(c) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 1342(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Limitation on authority of administrator to withdraw 
        approval of state programs.--The Administrator may not withdraw 
        approval of a State program under paragraph (3) or (4), or 
        limit Federal financial assistance for the State program, on 
        the basis that the Administrator disagrees with the State 
        regarding--
                    ``(A) the implementation of any water quality 
                standard that has been adopted by the State and 
                approved by the Administrator under section 303(c); or
                    ``(B) the implementation of any Federal guidance 
                that directs the interpretation of the State's water 
                quality standards.''.
    (d) Limitation on Authority of Administrator To Object to 
Individual Permits.--Section 402(d) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(d)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) The Administrator may not object under paragraph (2) to the 
issuance of a permit by a State on the basis of--
            ``(A) the Administrator's interpretation of a water quality 
        standard that has been adopted by the State and approved by the 
        Administrator under section 303(c); or
            ``(B) the implementation of any Federal guidance that 
        directs the interpretation of the State's water quality 
        standards.''.

SEC. 3. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL.

    (a) Authority of EPA Administrator.--Section 404(c) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(c)'' and inserting ``(c)(1)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any permit if the State in 
which the discharge originates or will originate does not concur with 
the Administrator's determination that the discharge will result in an 
unacceptable adverse effect as described in paragraph (1).''.
    (b) State Permit Programs.--The first sentence of section 404(g)(1) 
of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(g)(1)) is amended by striking ``The 
Governor of any State desiring to administer its own individual and 
general permit program for the discharge'' and inserting ``The Governor 
of any State desiring to administer its own individual and general 
permit program for some or all of the discharges''.

SEC. 4. DEADLINES FOR AGENCY COMMENTS.

    Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1344) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (m) by striking ``ninetieth day'' and 
        inserting ``30th day (or the 60th day if additional time is 
        requested)''; and
            (2) in subsection (q)--
                    (A) by striking ``(q)'' and inserting ``(q)(1)''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) The Administrator and the head of a department or agency 
referred to in paragraph (1) shall each submit any comments with 
respect to an application for a permit under subsection (a) or (e) not 
later than the 30th day (or the 60th day if additional time is 
requested) after the date of receipt of an application for a permit 
under that subsection.''.
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