[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 223 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 223

  To authorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2015

    Mr. Joyce (for himself, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Levin, Mr. Kelly of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Benishek, 
    Mr. Collins of New York, Mr. Nolan, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Reed, Mrs. 
  Walorski, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Renacci, Ms. Moore, Mrs. Miller of 
 Michigan, and Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, 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 ``Great Lakes Restoration Initiative 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITIATIVE.

    Section 118(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1268(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the 
following:
            ``(7) Great lakes restoration initiative.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--There is established in the 
                Agency a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (referred 
                to in this paragraph as the `Initiative') to carry out 
                programs and projects for Great Lakes protection and 
                restoration.
                    ``(B) Focus areas.--The Initiative shall prioritize 
                programs and projects carried out in coordination with 
                non-Federal partners and programs and projects that 
                address priority areas each fiscal year, including--
                            ``(i) the remediation of toxic substances 
                        and areas of concern;
                            ``(ii) the prevention and control of 
                        invasive species and the impacts of invasive 
                        species;
                            ``(iii) the protection and restoration of 
                        nearshore health and the prevention and 
                        mitigation of nonpoint source pollution;
                            ``(iv) habitat and wildlife protection and 
                        restoration, including wetlands restoration and 
                        preservation; and
                            ``(v) accountability, monitoring, 
                        evaluation, communication, and partnership 
                        activities.
                    ``(C) Projects.--Under the Initiative, the Agency 
                shall collaborate with Federal partners, including the 
                Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, to select the best 
                combination of programs and projects for Great Lakes 
                protection and restoration using appropriate principles 
                and criteria, including whether a program or project 
                provides--
                            ``(i) the ability to achieve strategic and 
                        measurable environmental outcomes that 
                        implement the Great Lakes Action Plan and the 
                        Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement;
                            ``(ii) the feasibility of--
                                    ``(I) prompt implementation;
                                    ``(II) timely achievement of 
                                results; and
                                    ``(III) resource leveraging; and
                            ``(iii) the opportunity to improve 
                        interagency and inter-organizational 
                        coordination and collaboration to reduce 
                        duplication and streamline efforts.
                    ``(D) Implementation of projects.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Funds made available to 
                        carry out the Initiative shall be used to 
                        strategically implement--
                                    ``(I) Federal projects; and
                                    ``(II) projects carried out in 
                                coordination with States, Indian 
                                tribes, municipalities, institutions of 
                                higher education, and other 
                                organizations.
                            ``(ii) Transfer of funds.--With amounts 
                        made available for the Initiative each fiscal 
                        year, the Administrator may--
                                    ``(I) transfer not more than 
                                $300,000,000 to the head of any Federal 
                                department or agency, with the 
                                concurrence of the department or agency 
                                head, to carry out activities to 
                                support the Initiative and the Great 
                                Lakes Water Quality Agreement; and
                                    ``(II) enter into an interagency 
                                agreement with the head of any Federal 
                                department or agency to carry out 
                                activities described in subclause (I).
                    ``(E) Scope.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Projects shall be 
                        carried out under the Initiative on multiple 
                        levels, including--
                                    ``(I) Great Lakes-wide; and
                                    ``(II) Great Lakes basin-wide.
                            ``(ii) Limitation.--No funds made available 
                        to carry out the Initiative may be used for any 
                        water infrastructure activity (other than a 
                        green infrastructure project that improves 
                        habitat and other ecosystem functions in the 
                        Great Lakes) for which amounts are made 
                        available from--
                                    ``(I) a State water pollution 
                                control revolving fund established 
                                under title VI; or
                                    ``(II) a State drinking water 
                                revolving loan fund established under 
                                section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water 
                                Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12).
                    ``(F) Activities by other federal agencies.--Each 
                relevant Federal department or agency shall, to the 
                maximum extent practicable--
                            ``(i) maintain the base level of funding 
                        for the Great Lakes activities of that 
                        department or agency without regard to funding 
                        under the Initiative; and
                            ``(ii) identify new activities and projects 
                        to support the environmental goals of the 
                        Initiative.
                    ``(G) Funding.--There is authorized to be 
                appropriated to carry out the Initiative $300,000,000 
                for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.''.
                                 <all>