[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES)

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 24, 2023

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce an amendment to the 
Clean Water Act extending permit terms for publicly owned water 
infrastructure projects under the National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System (NPDES). I thank my colleague Congressman Ken 
Calvert (R-CA) for his support as the original cosponsor again this 
Congress.
  This bipartisan bill would simply extend the NPDES permit term for 
projects owned and operated by local public agencies like water 
districts from the current 5 years up to 10 years. NPDES permit terms 
for private projects or industrial discharges would remain at the 
current 5-year term.
  The United States has fallen behind many other developed nations in 
wastewater infrastructure, receiving a D-plus grade in the American 
Society of Civil Engineers' most recent report card. One reason for 
this lapse in infrastructure modernization is arbitrary permitting 
timetables imposed by federal law. Permit terms should match the 
construction timelines and on-the-ground reality for the projects to 
which those permits apply. This is currently not the case. With over 95 
percent of wastewater infrastructure spending at the local level, 
according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, lengthening permit terms 
for local governments would be one of the most expeditious ways to 
encouraging further investment in 21st-century wastewater treatment and 
water recycling facilities.
  Current NPDES permitting under the Clean Water Act has a maximum term 
of 5 years, an arbitrary timeline that is impracticable given prolonged 
construction schedules for local public agencies. As a result, 
California's State Water Resources Control Board and Clean Water Act 
regulators in other states are overwhelmed with a backlog of NPDES 
permitting requests for existing projects. New public projects are 
significantly delayed by this unnecessary bureaucracy, which also 
prevents regulators like California's State Water Resources Control 
Board from focusing on watershed-scale planning and water quality 
standards.
  My bill would alleviate this burden by extending the maximum permit 
to 10 years, helping local water agencies nationwide better implement 
the Clean Water Act and cutting the current permitting backlog in half. 
Extending NPDES permit terms is a practical solution that allows local 
agencies to meet regulatory standards while building public water 
projects that measurably improve water quality, which after all is the 
purpose of the Clean Water Act.
  In October 2019, the House Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure passed my bill to allow States to issue NPDES permits 
with terms up to 10 years as part of then-Chairman DeFazio's bipartisan 
``Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2019'' (H.R. 1497). 
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to cosponsor this bipartisan bill.

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