[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 23235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ORDER OF PROCEDURE

  Mr. KERRY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed as in 
legislative session and as in morning business to process some cleared 
legislative items.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                  FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT

  Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 715, S. 3481.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 3481) to amend the Federal Water Pollution 
     Control Act to clarify Federal responsibility for stormwater 
     pollution.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a Cardin 
amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be 
read the third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any 
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record, as if read.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4917) was agreed to, as follows:

                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

       Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY FOR STORMWATER 
                   PROGRAMS.

       Section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
     U.S.C. 1323) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Reasonable Service Charges.--
       ``(1) In general.--For the purposes of this Act, reasonable 
     service charges described in subsection (a) include any 
     reasonable nondiscriminatory fee, charge, or assessment that 
     is--
       ``(A) based on some fair approximation of the proportionate 
     contribution of the property or facility to stormwater 
     pollution (in terms of quantities of pollutants, or volume or 
     rate of stormwater discharge or runoff from the property or 
     facility); and
       ``(B) used to pay or reimburse the costs associated with 
     any stormwater management program (whether associated with a 
     separate storm sewer system or a sewer system that manages a 
     combination of stormwater and sanitary waste), including the 
     full range of programmatic and structural costs attributable 
     to collecting stormwater, reducing pollutants in stormwater, 
     and reducing the volume and rate of stormwater discharge, 
     regardless of whether that reasonable fee, charge, or 
     assessment is denominated a tax.
       ``(2) Limitation on accounts.--
       ``(A) Limitation.--The payment or reimbursement of any fee, 
     charge, or assessment described in paragraph (1) shall not be 
     made using funds from any permanent authorization account in 
     the Treasury.
       ``(B) Reimbursement or payment obligation of federal 
     government.--Each department, agency, or instrumentality of 
     the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the 
     Federal Government, as described in subsection (a), shall not 
     be obligated to pay or reimburse any fee, charge, or 
     assessment described in paragraph (1), except to the extent 
     and in an amount provided in advance by any appropriations 
     Act to pay or reimburse the fee, charge, or assessment.''.

  The bill (S. 3481), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

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