[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1844 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1844
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that
publicly owned treatment works monitor for and report sewer overflows,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 11, 2021
Mr. Moulton (for himself and Mrs. Trahan) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that
publicly owned treatment works monitor for and report sewer overflows,
and for other purposes.
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 ``Sewage Treatment Overflow Prevention
through Community Sanitation Outreach Act of 2021'' or the ``STOP CSO
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF SEWER
OVERFLOWS.
(a) Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants.--Section
221(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1301(a))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Use of funds.--A State may use funding provided by a
grant under this subsection for monitoring, reporting, and
notification required under section 402(t).''.
(b) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.--Section 402
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(2)(B), by inserting ``this section
and'' after ``required in''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(t) Sewer Overflow Monitoring, Reporting, and Notifications.--
``(1) General requirements.--After the last day of the 180-
day period beginning on the date on which regulations are
issued under paragraph (4), a permit issued, renewed, or
modified under this section by the Administrator (or a State,
in the case of a permit program approved by the Administrator)
for a publicly owned treatment works shall require the owner or
operator of the treatment works to--
``(A) institute and utilize a feasible methodology,
technology, or management program for monitoring sewer
overflows to alert the owner or operator to the
occurrence of a sewer overflow in a timely manner;
``(B) in the case of a sewer overflow that has the
potential to affect human health, notify the public of
the overflow as soon as practicable, but in no case
more than 4 hours, after the time the owner or operator
knows of the overflow;
``(C) in the case of a sewer overflow that may
imminently and substantially endanger human health,
notify public health authorities and other affected
entities, such as public water systems, of the overflow
immediately after the owner or operator knows of the
overflow; and
``(D) report each sewer overflow to the
Administrator (or the State), describing--
``(i) the magnitude, duration, and
suspected cause of the overflow;
``(ii) the steps taken or planned to
reduce, eliminate, or prevent a recurrence of
the overflow; and
``(iii) the steps taken or planned to
mitigate the adverse effects of the overflow.
``(2) Exception.--The reporting requirements of paragraph
(1)(D) shall not apply to a sewer overflow that is a release of
wastewater that occurs in the course of maintenance of a
treatment works, is managed consistently with best management
practices for treatment works, and is intended to prevent sewer
overflows.
``(3) Annual report.--In the case of a permit program
approved by the Administrator, the State shall submit to the
Administrator an annual report describing sewer overflows
reported to the State under paragraph (1)(D).
``(4) Rulemaking.--Not later than one year after the date
of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall issue
regulations to implement this subsection, including regulations
to--
``(A) establish a set of criteria to guide the
owner or operator of a publicly owned treatment works
in--
``(i) assessing whether a sewer overflow
has the potential to affect human health or may
imminently and substantially endanger human
health; and
``(ii) developing communication measures
that are sufficient to give notice under
paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(C); and
``(B) define the terms `feasible' and `timely' as
such terms apply to paragraph (1)(A), which definitions
shall include consideration of site-specific
conditions.
``(5) Special rules concerning application of notification
requirements.--After the last day of the 30-day period
beginning on the date on which the Administrator issues
regulations under paragraph (4), the requirements of paragraphs
(1)(B) and (1)(C) shall apply to the owner or operator of a
publicly owned treatment works until such date as a permit is
issued, renewed, or modified under this section in accordance
with paragraph (1).
``(6) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this subsection
applies to a wastewater backup that will not result in a
discharge into waters of the United States.
``(7) Definition of sewer overflow.--In this subsection,
the term `sewer overflow' means a sanitary sewer overflow or a
municipal combined sewer overflow.''.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.
Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) for the implementation of monitoring for sewer
overflows required under section 402(t).''.
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