[Senate Report 111-171]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 354
111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     111-171

======================================================================



 
         CONTAMINATED SEDIMENT REMEDIATION REAUTHORIZATION ACT

                                _______
                                

                 April 20, 2010.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mrs. Boxer, from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                             MINORITY VIEWS

                         [To accompany S. 933]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was 
referred a bill (S. 933) to amend the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act and the Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 to 
reauthorize programs to address remediation of contaminated 
sediment, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommends that the bill do pass.

                      Purposes of the Legislation

    S. 933 reauthorizes sections of the Great Lakes Legacy Act 
of 2002, and increases amounts authorized for projects to 
remediate contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes Areas of 
Concern.

                    General Statement and Background

    The Great Lakes are among the largest and most complex 
freshwater ecosystems in the world--holding one-fifth of the 
world's fresh surface water. Millions of people, aquatic 
organisms and wildlife depend on the Great Lakes for water, 
food and habitat. Although significant progress has been made 
towards reducing the discharge of toxic chemicals into the 
Great Lakes, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has 
found that persistent high concentrations of contaminants in 
sediments of some rivers, harbors and bays still exist as a 
``legacy'' of North America's industrialization. EPA further 
reports that accumulation of these pollutants continues to 
threaten the overall health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
    To address this problem, Congress enacted the Great Lakes 
Legacy Act of 2002 to remove contaminated sediments from Areas 
of Concern--sites in the Great Lakes that fail to meet water 
quality goals established by agreement between the United 
States and Canada in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. 
Since this cleanup program was created in 2002, over 900,000 
cubic yards of contaminated sediments have been cleaned up, 
removing 1.7 million pounds of contaminants from the Great 
Lakes. Through these projects, $53 million in Great Lakes 
Legacy Act funds have leveraged nearly $44 million in state, 
local and private entity dollars.
    Despite significant progress under the Act, numerous Areas 
of Concern remain to be addressed--as of January 2009, five 
cleanup projects have been largely completed and three were 
removed from the original list of forty-three Areas of Concern 
in the United States and Canada. To continue tackling this 
considerable problem, this legislation would increase 
authorizations for contaminated sediment remediation programs 
in the Great Lakes.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides that the Act may be cited as the 
``Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act''.

Section 2. Remediation of sediment contamination in areas of concern

    Section 2 authorizes $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2010 through 2014 to carry out Section 118(c)(12) of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

Section 3. Public information program

    Section 3 extends the authorization through 2014 for the 
Administrator to carry out a public information program to 
provide information relating to the remediation of contaminated 
sediment in areas of concern that are located wholly or 
partially in the United States.

Section 4. Contaminated sediment remediation approaches, technologies, 
        and techniques

    Section 4 increases the authorization for a research and 
development program to $5 million, for each of the fiscal years 
2010 through 2014.

                          Legislative History

    S. 933 was introduced by Senator Levin of Michigan, and is 
cosponsored by Senators Voinovich, Stabenow, Schumer, Durbin, 
Brown, Gillibrand, and Klobuchar. The bill was read twice and 
referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public 
Works. The Committee met on June 18, 2009 to consider the bill, 
and S. 933 was ordered favorably reported without amendment by 
voice vote.
    The House of Representatives passed similar legislation 
within H.R. 1262, the Water Quality Investment Act of 2009, on 
March 12, 2009.

                                Hearings

    No committee hearings were held on S. 933.

                             Rollcall Votes

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works ordered S. 
933 to be favorably reported by voice vote on June 18, 2009. No 
rollcall votes were taken.

                      Regulatory Impact Statement

    In compliance with section 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes evaluation of 
the regulatory impact of the reported bill. The Committee finds 
that this legislation does not have substantial regulatory 
impacts.

                          Mandates Assessment

    In compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Pub. L. 104-4), the Committee finds that this legislation does 
not impose intergovernmental mandates or private sector 
mandates as those terms are defined in UMRA. The Congressional 
Budget Office concurs, finding ``S. 933 contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).''

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                                     June 25, 2009.
Hon. Barbara Boxer,
Chairman, Committee on Environment and Public Works,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 933, the 
Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susanne S. 
Mehlman.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

S. 933--Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act

    Summary: S. 933 would reauthorize the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA), in conjunction with nonfederal 
sponsors, to carry out projects aimed at cleaning up certain 
areas of the Great Lakes where contamination has settled into 
sediment at the bottom of the lakes. The bill would authorize 
the appropriation of $150 million annually over the 2010-2014 
period to EPA for that purpose. In addition, the bill would 
authorize the appropriation of $5 million annually over the 
five-year period for EPA to conduct research on the development 
and use of innovative methods for cleaning up the Great Lakes.
    Assuming appropriation of the specified amounts, CBO 
estimates that implementing this legislation would cost $638 
million over the 2010-2014 period. Enacting S. 933 would not 
affect direct spending or receipts.
    S. 933 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 933 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and environment).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                    ------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       2010      2011      2012      2013      2014    2010-2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

EPA Funding for Clean-up Projects:
    Authorization Level............................       150       150       150       150       150        750
    Estimated Outlays..............................        60       120       138       147       150        615
Research and Development:
    Authorization Level............................         5         5         5         5         5         25
    Estimated Outlays..............................         3         5         5         5         5         23
    Total Proposed Changes:
        Authorization Level........................       155       155       155       155       155        775
        Estimated Outlays..........................        63       125       143       152       155        638
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 
933 will be enacted near the end of fiscal year 2009, that 
specified amounts will be appropriated in each year starting in 
2010, and that outlays will follow historical spending patterns 
for the existing programs.
    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 933 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA. The bill would benefit state, local, and 
tribal governments by extending EPA programs to clean up 
sediment contamination in the Great Lakes and by continuing an 
existing grant program to provide public information about such 
contamination. Any costs those governments might incur, 
including matching funds, would result from complying with 
conditions of federal aid.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Susanne S. Mehlman; 
Impact on state, local, and tribal governments: Ryan Miller; 
Impact on the private sector: Amy Petz.
    Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    MINORITY VIEWS OF SENATOR INHOFE

    S. 933, the Contaminated Sediment Remediation 
Reauthorization Act, increases the authorization level from 
$50,000,000 to $150,000,000. Since FY 2004 the appropriated 
funds for the Great Lakes Legacy Act have increased from 
$9,900,000 to $37,000,000 in FY 2009, but the program has never 
been fully funded at $50,000,000. This tripling in 
authorization is unjustified for a program that currently 
receives significantly less than its current authorization. The 
first step to controlling government spending is for the 
authorizers to set reasonable and achievable authorization 
levels.
                                                   James M. Inhofe.
                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with section 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill 
as reported are shown as follows: Existing law proposed to be 
omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in 
italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 
roman:

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Federal Water Pollution Control Act

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



 SEC. 118. GREAT LAKES.

      (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

      (c) Great Lakes Management.--
          (1) Functions.--The Program Office shall--
                  (A) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (12) Remediation of sediment contamination in areas 
        of concern.--
                  (A) In general.--In accordance with this 
                paragraph, the Administrator, acting through 
                the Program Office, may carry out projects that 
                meet the requirements of subparagraph (B).
                  (B) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                  (H) Authorization of appropriations.--
                          [(i) In general.--In addition to 
                        other amounts authorized under this 
                        section, there is authorized to be 
                        appropriated to carry out this 
                        paragraph $50,000,000 for each of 
                        fiscal years 2004 through 2010.]
                          (i) In general.--In addition to other 
                        amounts authorized under this section, 
                        there is authorized to be appropriated 
                        to carry out this paragraph--
                                  (I) $50,000,000 for each of 
                                fiscal years 2004 through 2009; 
                                and
                                  (II) $150,000,000 for each of 
                                fiscal years 2010 through 2014.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (13) Public information program.--
                  (A) In general.--The Administrator, acting 
                through the Program Office and in coordination 
                with States, Indian tribes, local governments, 
                and other entities, may carry out a public 
                information program to provide information 
                relating to the remediation of contaminated 
                sediment to the public in areas of concern that 
                are located wholly or partially in the United 
                States.
                  (B) Authorization of appropriations.--There 
                is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
                this paragraph $1,000,000 for each of fiscal 
                years 2004 through [2010] 2014.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (a) In General.--* * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
          (1) In general.--[In addition to amounts authorized 
        under other laws, there is authorized to be 
        appropriated to carry out this section $3,000,000 for 
        each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.]In addition to 
        amounts authorized under other laws, there are 
        authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
        section--
                  (A) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
                through 2009; and
                  (B) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 
                through 2014.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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