Requires continued monitoring and data collection to help identify emerging problems.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1116 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1116
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Great
Lakes National Program Office of the Environmental Protection Agency to
develop, implement, monitor, and report on a series of indicators of
water quality and related environmental factors in the Great Lakes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 22, 2003
Mr. Levin (for himself, Mr. DeWine, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Voinovich)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Great
Lakes National Program Office of the Environmental Protection Agency to
develop, implement, monitor, and report on a series of indicators of
water quality and related environmental factors in the Great Lakes.
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 ``Great Lakes Water Quality Indicators
and Monitoring Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) there are no comprehensive, regularly-collected data
that reveal whether the water quality or related environmental
factors of the Great Lakes have improved as a result of efforts
to remediate and protect the Great Lakes;
(2) that lack of data was confirmed in May 2003 in a report
by the General Accounting Office that concluded that existing
data were inadequate to assess the overall progress of
restoration efforts in the Great Lakes; and
(3) without those data, it is impossible to determine
whether--
(A) progress is being made toward achieving the
goals contained in the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement between the United States and Canada; or
(B) Federal and State water quality standards and
remediation programs are effective.
SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY INDICATORS AND MONITORING.
(a) In General.--Section 118(c)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268(c)(1)) is amended by striking subparagraph
(B) and inserting the following:
``(B)(i) not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this clause, in cooperation with Canada
and appropriate Federal agencies (including the United
States Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Fish
and Wildlife Service), develop and implement a set of
science-based indicators of water quality and related
environmental factors in the Great Lakes, including, at
a minimum, measures of toxic pollutants that have
accumulated in the Great Lakes for a substantial period
of time, as determined by the Program Office;
``(ii) not later than 4 years after the date of
enactment of this clause--
``(I) establish a Federal network for the
regular monitoring of, and collection of data
throughout, the Great Lakes basin with respect
to the indicators described in clause (i); and
``(II) collect an initial set of benchmark
data from the network; and
``(iii) not later than 2 years after the date of
collection of the data described in clause (ii)(II),
and biennially thereafter, in addition to the report
required under paragraph (10), submit to Congress, and
make available to the public, a report that--
``(I) describes the water quality and
related environmental factors of the Great
Lakes (including any changes in those factors),
as determined through the regular monitoring of
indicators under clause (ii)(I) for the period
covered by the report; and
``(II) identifies any emerging problems in
the water quality or related environmental
factors of the Great Lakes.''.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 118 of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268) is amended by striking
subsection (h) and inserting the following:
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section (other than subsection (c)(1)(B))
$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
``(2) Great lakes water quality indicators and
monitoring.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry
out subsection (c)(1)(B)--
``(A) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
``(B) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
``(C) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
``(D) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6999-7000)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7000)
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