[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 147 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 147

    To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a 
  deadline for restricting sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to 
 fund programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into 
                            the Great Lakes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 25 (legislative day, January 5), 2011

 Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Durbin) 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 establish a 
  deadline for restricting sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to 
 fund programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into 
                            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 Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SEWAGE DUMPING INTO THE GREAT LAKES.

    Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1342) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s) Prohibition on Sewage Dumping Into the Great Lakes.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Bypass.--The term `bypass' means an 
                intentional diversion of waste streams to bypass any 
                portion of a treatment facility which results in a 
                discharge into the Great Lakes.
                    ``(B) Great lakes.--The term `Great Lakes' has the 
                meaning given the term in section 118(a)(3).
                    ``(C) Treatment facility.--The term `treatment 
                facility' includes all wastewater treatment units used 
                by a publicly owned treatment works to meet secondary 
                treatment standards or higher, as required to attain 
                water quality standards, under any operating 
                conditions.
                    ``(D) Treatment works.--The term `treatment works' 
                has the meaning given the term in section 212.
            ``(2) Prohibition.--A publicly owned treatment works is 
        prohibited from intentionally diverting waste streams to bypass 
        any portion of a treatment facility at the treatment works if 
        the diversion results in a discharge into the Great Lakes 
        unless--
                    ``(A)(i) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss 
                of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;
                    ``(ii) there is not a feasible alternative to the 
                bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment 
                facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or 
                maintenance during normal periods of equipment 
                downtime; and
                    ``(iii) the treatment works provides notice of the 
                bypass in accordance with this subsection; or
                    ``(B) the bypass does not cause effluent 
                limitations to be exceeded, and the bypass is for 
                essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of 
                the treatment facility.
            ``(3) Limitation.--The requirement of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) 
        is not satisfied if--
                    ``(A) adequate back-up equipment should have been 
                installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering 
                judgment to prevent the bypass; and
                    ``(B) the bypass occurred during normal periods of 
                equipment downtime or preventive maintenance.
            ``(4) Notice requirements.--A publicly owned treatment 
        works shall provide to the Administrator (or to the State, in 
        the case of a State that has a permit program approved under 
        this section)--
                    ``(A) prior notice of an anticipated bypass; and
                    ``(B) notice of an unanticipated bypass by not 
                later than 24 hours after the time at which the 
                treatment works first becomes aware of the bypass.
            ``(5) Follow-up notice requirements.--In the case of an 
        unanticipated bypass for which a publicly owned treatment works 
        provides notice under paragraph (4)(B), the treatment works 
        shall provide to the Administrator (or to the State in the case 
        of a State that has a permit program approved under this 
        section), not later than 5 days following the date on which the 
        treatment works first becomes aware of the bypass, a follow-up 
        notice containing a description of--
                    ``(A) the cause of the bypass;
                    ``(B) the reason for the bypass;
                    ``(C) the period of bypass, including the exact 
                dates and times;
                    ``(D) if the bypass has not been corrected, the 
                anticipated time the bypass is expected to continue;
                    ``(E) the volume of the discharge resulting from 
                the bypass;
                    ``(F) any public access areas that may be impacted 
                by the bypass; and
                    ``(G) steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, 
                and prevent reoccurrence of the bypass.
            ``(6) Public availability of notices.--A publicly owned 
        treatment works providing a notice under this subsection, and 
        the Administrator (or the State, in the case of a State that 
        has a permit program approved under this section) receiving 
        such a notice, shall each post the notice, by not later than 48 
        hours after providing or receiving the notice (as the case may 
        be), in a searchable database accessible on the Internet.
            ``(7) Sewage blending.--Bypasses prohibited by this section 
        include bypasses resulting in discharges from a publicly owned 
        treatment works that consist of effluent routed around 
        treatment units and thereafter blended together with effluent 
        from treatment units prior to discharge.
            ``(8) Implementation.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall 
        establish procedures to ensure that permits issued under this 
        section (or under a State permit program approved under this 
        section) to a publicly owned treatment works include 
        requirements to implement this subsection.
            ``(9) Increase in maximum civil penalty for violations 
        occurring after january 1, 2031.--Notwithstanding section 309, 
        in the case of a violation of this subsection occurring on or 
        after January 1, 2031, or any violation of a permit limitation 
        or condition implementing this subsection occurring after such 
        date, the maximum civil penalty that shall be assessed for the 
        violation shall be $100,000 per day for each day the violation 
        occurs.
            ``(10) Applicability.--This subsection shall apply to a 
        bypass occurring after the last day of the 1-year period 
        beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GREAT LAKES CLEANUP FUND.

    (a) In General.--Title V of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 519 (33 U.S.C. 1251 note) as 
        section 520; and
            (2) by inserting after section 518 (33 U.S.C. 1377) the 
        following:

``SEC. 519. ESTABLISHMENT OF GREAT LAKES CLEANUP FUND.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the Great Lakes Cleanup 
        Fund established by subsection (b).
            ``(2) Great lakes; great lakes states.--The terms `Great 
        Lakes' and `Great Lakes States' have the meanings given the 
        terms in section 118(a)(3).
    ``(b) Establishment of Fund.--There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States a trust fund to be known as the `Great Lakes 
Cleanup Fund' (in this section referred to as the `Fund').
    ``(c) Transfers to Fund.--Effective January 1, 2031, there are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Fund amounts equivalent to the 
penalties collected for violations of section 402(s).
    ``(d) Administration of Fund.--The Administrator shall administer 
the Fund.
    ``(e) Use of Funds.--The Administrator shall--
            ``(1) make the amounts in the Fund available to the Great 
        Lakes States for use in carrying out programs and activities 
        for improving wastewater discharges into the Great Lakes, 
        including habitat protection and wetland restoration; and
            ``(2) allocate those amounts among the Great Lakes States 
        based on the proportion that--
                    ``(A) the amount attributable to a Great Lakes 
                State for penalties collected for violations of section 
                402(s); bears to
                    ``(B) the total amount of those penalties 
                attributable to all Great Lakes States.
    ``(f) Priority.--In selecting programs and activities to be funded 
using amounts made available under this section, a Great Lakes State 
shall give priority consideration to programs and activities that 
address violations of section 402(s) resulting in the collection of 
penalties.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment to State Revolving Fund Program.--Section 
607 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1387) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``There is''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Treatment of Great Lakes Cleanup Fund.--For purposes of this 
title, amounts made available from the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund under 
section 519 shall be treated as funds authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out this title and as funds made available under this title, 
except that the funds shall be made available to the Great Lakes States 
in accordance with section 519.''.
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