[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 87 (Thursday, June 10, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4855-S4856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN:
  S. 3481. A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to 
clarify Federal responsibility for stormwater pollution; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, in recent weeks the issue of polluted 
stormwater runoff from federal properties has again gained significant 
attention. I continue to have grave concerns about the failure of the 
Federal Government to pay localities for reasonable costs associated 
with the control and abatement of pollution that is originating on its 
properties. At stake is a fundamental issue of equity: polluters should 
be financially responsible for the pollution that they cause. That 
includes the Federal Government.
  Today I am introducing legislation that makes it clear. Uncle Sam 
must pay his bills just like every other American.
  Annually hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollutants wash off the 
hardened surfaces in urban areas and into local rivers and streams, 
threatening the health of our citizens and causing significant 
environmental degradation. A one-acre parking lot produces about 16 
times the volume of runoff that comes from a one-acre meadow. These 
pollutants include heavy metals, nitrogen and phosphorous, oil and 
grease, pesticides, bacteria, including deadly
e. coli, sediment, toxic chemicals, and debris. Indeed, stormwater 
runoff is the largest source sector for many imperiled bodies of water 
across the country. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 
stormwater pollution affects all types of water bodies including in 
order of severity; ocean shoreline, estuaries such as the Chesapeake 
Bay, Great Lakes shorelines, lakes and rivers. Degraded aquatic 
habitats are found everywhere that stormwater enters local waterways.
  On October 5, 2009, President Obama issued a Federal Executive order 
on sustainability which set goals for Federal agencies and focused on 
making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic 
performance.

[[Page S4856]]

Among other requirements, the order specifically requires the 
implementation of the stormwater provisions of the Energy Independence 
and Security Act of 2007, section 438.
  I am the author of that provision, which requires the Federal 
Government to maintain the predevelopment hydrology ``to the maximum 
extent practicable'' of all new building sites or major renovations. 
This requirement echoed the provision in the President's Chesapeake Bay 
Protection and Restoration Executive Order issued on May 12, 2009. In 
the final Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay 
Watershed, issued on the one-year anniversary of the Executive Order, 
each Federal agency is being called upon to implement ``the stormwater 
requirements for new development and redevelopment in Section 438 of 
the Energy Independence and Security Act. . .'' (pp. 33-34). These 
parallel Federal stormwater management requirements are explicit 
recognition of the importance of controlling and managing stormwater 
pollution from Federal properties.
  As EPA requires more communities to address stormwater pollution 
through Clean Water Act required Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System 
permits, these communities are responding with a variety of fee-based 
management systems that will allow them to mitigate, manage and prevent 
this type of pollution.
  The EPA requires National Pollution Discharge Elimination Permits for 
large communities. The President has issued two Executive Orders that 
directly note the need to address this type of pollution ``to the 
maximum extent practicable.'' Clearly, these actions demonstrate that 
the administration recognizes the importance of dealing adequately with 
stormwater pollution.
  I believe that this administration recognizes its responsibility to 
manage the stormwater pollution that comes off Federal properties. But 
that responsibility needs to translate into payments to the local 
governments that are forced to deal with this pollution. That 
commitment needs to be more than an Executive order. Adopting the 
legislation that I am introducing today will remove all ambiguity about 
the responsibility of the Federal Government to pay these normal and 
customary stormwater fees.
  This is a matter of basic equity. I call upon all of my colleagues to 
join me in supporting this simple legislative remedy.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill he 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3481

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR STORMWATER POLLUTION.

       Section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
     U.S.C. 1323) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Federal Responsibility for Stormwater Pollution.--
     Reasonable service charges described in subsection (a) 
     include reasonable fees or assessments made for the purpose 
     of stormwater management in the same manner and to the same 
     extent as any nongovernmental entity.
       ``(d) No Treatment as Tax or Levy.--A fee or assessment 
     described in this section--
       ``(1) shall not be considered to be a tax or other levy 
     subject to an assertion of sovereign immunity; and
       ``(2) may be paid using appropriated funds.''.
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