[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 119 (Monday, July 16, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6219-H6221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INNOVATIVE STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT OF 2018

  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3906) to establish centers of excellence for 
innovative stormwater control infrastructure, and for other purposes, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3906

       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 ``Innovative Stormwater 
     Infrastructure Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING TASK FORCE.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency shall establish a stormwater infrastructure 
     funding task force composed of representatives of Federal, 
     State, and local governments and private (including 
     nonprofit) entities to conduct a study on, and develop 
     recommendations to improve, the availability of public and 
     private sources of funding for the construction, 
     rehabilitation, and operation and maintenance of stormwater 
     infrastructure to meet the requirements of the Federal Water 
     Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).
       (b) Considerations.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
     task force shall--
       (1) identify existing Federal, State, and local public 
     sources and private sources of funding for stormwater 
     infrastructure; and
       (2) consider--
       (A) how funding for stormwater infrastructure from such 
     sources has been made available, and utilized, in each State 
     to address stormwater infrastructure needs identified 
     pursuant to section 516(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution 
     Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1375(b)(1));
       (B) how the source of funding affects the affordability of 
     the infrastructure (as determined based on the considerations 
     used to assess the financial capability of municipalities 
     under the integrated planning guidelines described in the 
     Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning 
     Approach Framework, issued by the Environmental Protection 
     Agency on June 5, 2012, and dated May, 2012), including 
     consideration of the costs associated with financing the 
     infrastructure; and
       (C) whether such sources of funding are sufficient to 
     support capital expenditures and long-term operation and 
     maintenance costs necessary to meet the stormwater 
     infrastructure needs of municipalities.
       (c) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to 
     Congress a report that describes the results of the study 
     conducted, and the recommendations developed, under 
     subsection (a).
       (d) State Defined.--In this section, the term ``State'' has 
     the meaning given that term in section 502 of the Federal 
     Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Graves) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. 
Napolitano) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous on H.R. 3906, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Louisiana?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman of the Transportation 
and Infrastructure Committee, Bill Shuster; the ranking member, 
Congressman DeFazio; and my good friend the ranking member of the 
subcommittee, Mrs. Napolitano, for their work in progressing this 
bipartisan legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, as we know, with the additional development that is 
occurring in this country, with the additional water and stormwater 
systems that are being built, heavy rains end up transiting or 
transferring pollutants, heavy metals, trash, bacteria, and many other 
things into our water system.
  Mr. Speaker, I represent south Louisiana. The watershed that I 
represent drains from Montana to two Canadian provinces to New York. It 
is one of the largest watersheds in the world. Of course, all of that 
stormwater runoff ends up coming down right through my home State and 
contributes to one of the largest dead zones in the Nation--in fact, 
the largest dead zone in the Nation--which is not very compatible with 
us having some of the top commercial and recreational fishing and one 
of the largest or most productive estuaries in the United States.
  So I want to thank Mr. Heck for introducing this legislation, for 
working with Congressman Katko in putting this together in a bipartisan 
manner.
  What this legislation does is it recognizes that stormwater runoff 
does actually transfer, or does contribute to pollutants, in our 
waterways, and it recognizes that this is a problem. But it also 
recognizes that it is a problem that needs to be solved by local, by 
State, and by Federal agencies, by Federal officials.
  So this legislation creates a new task force to look at innovative 
financing, to look at new funding streams, to look at how we can do a 
better job integrating the various funding streams to actually achieve 
this objective that we all share on a bipartisan basis to help reduce 
the amount of pollutants and trash and other things that get into our 
waterways. This is an important step forward.
  Mr. Speaker, in a previous life, I managed a large infrastructure 
program where we built tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure. 
One of the first things I realized is how important it was for us to 
look at all the funding streams that are available, and the possible 
funding streams that are available, pulling those together to make sure 
that they are being used in a complementary manner, not managed in 
silos, and certainly not managed in a contradictory or in a conflicting 
manner.
  The gentleman's legislation helps to address that. It helps look at 
the revenue streams that are available today, whether they are Federal, 
whether they are State, whether they are local funds, or perhaps even 
private or not-for-profit, looking at the different regulatory 
structures that are out there, looking at opportunities for us to 
achieve this bipartisan goal of reducing pollutants, of helping reduce 
trash, of helping reduce the dead zone and other adverse outcomes as a 
result of stormwater runoff from heavy rains.
  Again, I want to point out that this is bipartisan legislation, that 
this passed the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 
unanimously, that my good friend from California Mrs. Napolitano worked 
with us on changes in the committee. I thank, again, the gentleman from 
Washington (Mr. Heck) and Mr. Katko for working together on something 
that is an important issue, for coming up with a bipartisan solution, 
and looking forward to ensuring that this passes the House and passes 
the Senate as well to where we can get it to the President's desk.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, because I rise in support of H.R. 3906, the Innovative 
Stormwater Infrastructure Act of 2018.
  This bipartisan bill, as was pointed out, was introduced by our 
colleague from Washington, Congressman Heck, aimed at addressing one of 
the ongoing concerns facing our communities, an unfunded mandate--very 
unfunded: how to address and pay for controlling ongoing sources of 
stormwater that empty into our local water bodies.
  According to EPA, runoff from urbanized areas is a leading source of 
water quality impairments on local water bodies. In urban and suburban 
areas, buildings and pavement cover much of the land and prevent rain 
and snowmelt from soaking into the ground. Instead, these developed 
areas rely on storm drains to carry large amounts of water runoff from 
roofs and paved areas to nearby waterways, and with it, as was pointed 
out again, high levels of pollution, such as oil, dirt, chemicals, and 
lawn fertilizers released directly into local streams and rivers.
  Congress needs to do more to help communities come into compliance 
with the goals of the Clean Water Act, the unfunded mandate. We need to 
encourage the development of new technologies and practices for 
addressing stormwater runoff. We need to encourage the implementation 
of cost-effective, low-impact development and nature-based 
infrastructure alternatives.

[[Page H6220]]

  Finally, we need to provide additional Federal assistance to 
communities to help address their local water quality challenges. Many 
of the communities are small and could not afford them. It will 
bankrupt them if they have to follow the letter of the law.

  Mr. Speaker, while H.R. 3906, as introduced, would have addressed 
some of these challenges, the bill was modified by the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure. This modification removed the 
authorization of a new EPA stormwater grant program and replaced it 
with a new study on how existing sources of Federal, State, local, and 
private funds are being used to address local stormwater challenges.
  As amended, H.R. 3906 would direct the EPA administration to partner 
with Federal, State, and local agencies and stakeholders in the 
creation of a new stormwater infrastructure funding task force. This 
new task force will look at funding and affordability issues related to 
the construction, rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of the 
stormwater infrastructure necessary to meet the goals of the Clean 
Water Act.
  The task force will be required to inventory the available public and 
private sources of funding for stormwater infrastructure and to assess 
how the use of these sources of funding might affect the affordability 
of the infrastructure to a municipality, which sometimes is 
floundering.
  While there may be several financing options available to communities 
to address local stormwater challenges, the actual cost of these 
options to a community may vary greatly.
  For example, it is far cheaper for a community to obtain a Federal 
grant for water infrastructure than a loan, but it may also be more 
affordable for a community to borrow from the Clean Water State 
Revolving Fund than to borrow the same amount from the private market. 
So the question is not simply about whether funding is available to the 
community, but is that funding also affordable to the community.
  I expect that the results of the task force will show how the Federal 
Government needs to be an active player in financing affordable 
stormwater infrastructure. Perhaps this information will guide future 
Congresses to take a greater role in financing our water infrastructure 
challenges.
  Mr. Speaker, while I am disappointed that this legislation does not 
provide additional Federal resources so desperately needed to address 
our local water infrastructure challenges, the bill is a very good 
first step in further refining the scope of the stormwater challenges 
facing our Nation.
  I am pleased to support the bill, and I heartily urge all my 
colleagues to join me in supporting it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck).
  Mr. HECK. Mr. Speaker, pretty simply put, this bill is about 
addressing the single largest source of water pollution in America, 
which is stormwater runoff.
  It is a nationwide issue from D.C., to Los Angeles, to Milwaukee, to 
Louisiana. But it is also one that is acutely felt in my home State of 
Washington, because there, it really does rain a lot. When that rain 
falls, the rain runs off the roofs. The rain runs down the streets. The 
rain runs into the storm drainage system. Along the way, it picks up 
all sorts of nasty, toxic stuff that has been alluded to earlier, stuff 
like fertilizers, metals, oils, and pesticides. That stuff, all that 
bad stuff, runs into our lakes and our rivers and, ultimately, in my 
region of the country, into Puget Sound, which is the largest estuary, 
by water volume, in the United States.
  It has been estimated by scientists that stormwater accounts for up 
to 80 percent of all water pollution. Gone are the days of the easy-fix 
solutions of point-source pollution, where we could just pass a law 
saying: You can't do that anymore. Figure it out.
  This is a lot more difficult. It is a lot more decentralized. It is a 
lot more pervasive. Frankly, it is no less harmful.
  And it hurts not just our environment. Let's be clear, this hurts our 
businesses as well, especially those that depend on clean water.
  In our State, we have a robust shellfish industry that employs 
thousands of people. Stormwater can kill a salmon in a matter of hours. 
We actually have time-lapse films from underwater showing this, and it 
is not very much time that has elapsed. This isn't something where they 
ingest the metal, and then months or years later they die. You can 
literally watch them die as the stormwater hits the water.
  And they are fundamental. Salmon are fundamental to the economy and 
the culture of the Pacific Northwest and especially to the Native 
people, who have depended on them since time immemorial.
  Salmon support, in fact, in our region of the country, a $30 billion 
a year economy.
  Salmon are also the prey of choice of our beloved southern resident 
orcas, which we are precariously close to losing altogether. Frankly, 
we can't save the orcas if we don't save the salmon, and we can't save 
the salmon if we don't save Puget Sound, and we can't save Puget Sound 
if we don't deal with stormwater runoff.
  Every region has its own story. The gentleman from Louisiana told his 
most eloquently, and I thank him, about how stormwater is punishing our 
waterways and, along with it, our way of life and our economy.
  That is why State and local governments are implementing green 
stormwater infrastructure, like rain gardens and permeable pavement, 
and are building new gray stormwater infrastructure to reduce combined 
sewer outflows. But that is not enough. It is not enough by a long 
shot.

                              {time}  1715

  State and local governments are stretched thin, and that is why we 
need the Federal Government to step up and do its partnership role in 
this.
  Back in my State, we estimate that the stormwater problem could be 
solved with $19 billion in investment between now and 2036; and, 
frankly, almost all of that is in the Puget Sound region, 98 percent.
  That is a lot of money and that is why H.R. 3906 is an important 
first step to help the experts and the stakeholders come together and 
come up with innovative ways not to be duplicative and to think outside 
the box.
  Mr. Speaker, I conclude by thanking Chairman Shuster; Ranking Member 
DeFazio; along with Subcommittee Chairman Graves; Ranking Member 
Napolitano; my colleague and my friend from New York, Congressman 
Katko; and their staffs for their work on this bill. I appreciate their 
help to bring greater attention to the problem of stormwater runoff.
  But let's be clear: We have to do more; we have to do a lot more. I 
look forward to continuing to work with the committee to increase the 
Federal Government's partnership role in tackling this urgent threat, 
which, again, is the number one cause of water pollution in America.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill.
  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, just one last word, I think this is a 
very important bill. We have been dealing with the stormwater issue for 
at least 7 years in my area, and because it is an unfunded mandate, the 
cities are crying out for help. I think the two cases set forth by my 
colleagues point out the need for Federal help.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. Speaker, Congressman Heck recently brought up the shellfish 
industry. Just this week, the Louisiana Oyster Task Force is coming to 
town. We are going to be meeting with them, talking to them about this 
and a number of other priority issues because their industry has been 
impacted by water quality and many other challenges.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that this legislation helps to make 
sure that all of the various levels of government, together with our 
nongovernment partners in the private sector and the not-for-profit 
organizations that are out

[[Page H6221]]

there, that we are all working together; that we are ensuring that the 
regulatory structure that is out there is actually complementary to 
this effort to help ensure clean water not just now, but for 
generations to come; that we are using better technology; that we are 
using better mechanisms, such as vegetative plantings and buffers and 
other things, to ensure that we are not polluting our waters but that 
we are cleaning them; that we have safe drinking water; that we have 
safe, productive ecosystems for generations to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank Congressman Heck, Congressman 
Katko, my friend Congresswoman Napolitano, and many others who were 
involved in this legislation. This is going to help us to ensure that 
the various funding streams that are out there, that we are using them 
in a complementary manner, not in a stovepipe manner.
  Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3906, 
as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3906, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a 
stormwater infrastructure funding task force, and for other purposes.''
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________