[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 119 (Thursday, July 10, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4317]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA:
  S. 2260. A bill to provide for the water quality restoration of the 
Tijuana River and the New River, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Border 
Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act of 2025. This bill aims to 
reduce pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border and improve water quality 
throughout the Tijuana River and New River watersheds. It would 
designate the Environmental Protection Agency as the lead Agency to 
coordinate all Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies to build and 
maintain needed infrastructure projects to address pollution along the 
border.
  The Tijuana River watershed is in the midst of an environmental 
crisis, as stormwater flows from the upper watershed, originating in 
Tijuana, Mexico, and carries trash, sediment, and sewage into San Diego 
County.
  Imperial County, like San Diego County, also faces serious impacts 
from the raw sewage, industrial waste, and trash that is carried by the 
New River from Mexicali, Mexico, through the city of Calexico before 
ultimately draining into the Salton Sea, where local families face 
exposure to dangerous pathogens.
  Since 2019, more than 100 billion gallons of sewage have flowed 
across the U.S.-Mexico border into the Tijuana River Valley and 
neighboring communities, forcing long-lasting beach closures, including 
the closure of Imperial Beach for more than 1,200 days in a row.
  Needless to say, this transboundary pollution crisis has 
disproportionately harmed underserved communities along San Diego's 
southern border for decades. U.S. military personnel, Border Patrol 
agents, and the local environment and economy have also suffered 
harmful impacts from waterborne and airborne transboundary sewage.
  This bill will build upon the past several years of work I have 
undertaken alongside the late Senator Feinstein to bolster the 
resources of the Environmental Protection Agency and the International 
Boundary and Water Commission to repair, rehabilitate, and expand the 
South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, including securing 
$300 million in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and more than $250 
million through fiscal year 2025 appropriations legislation.
  Establishing a program for the Tijuana and New Rivers is critical for 
the EPA to integrate and coordinate water quality restoration and 
protection activities by stakeholders across the region and will 
facilitate better coordination by Federal, State, Tribal, local, 
public, nonprofit, and other relevant stakeholders. California 
communities have suffered the impacts of transboundary sewage for too 
long, and this legislation will facilitate longawaited solutions to 
manage stormwater flows to reduce negative impacts to nearby 
communities and the regional economy and restore water quality and 
ecosystems throughout these watersheds.
  I want to thank my colleagues, especially Senator Adam Schiff, 
Senator Cory Booker, and Congressman Juan Vargas, for reintroducing 
this bill with me. I hope my colleagues will join me to pass the Border 
Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act of 2025 to address this 
public health and environmental crisis.
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