Chesapeake Bay Restoration Enhancement Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to revise requirements for implementation and monitoring grants under the Chesapeake Bay Agreement and for reporting on federally-funded projects under such Agreement.
Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish each year a tributary health report card to evaluate progress, with reference to a specified baseline, in achieving and maintaining nutrient and sediment reduction goals for each Chesapeake Bay tributary basin.
Requires the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia and the District of Columbia to submit information to the Administrator for each Chesapeake Bay tributary basin located in such jurisdictions relating to nutrient and sediment reduction. Prohibits the Administrator from making a grant to any state which fails to provide required information.
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in cooperation with specified federal agencies, to submit to Congress an interagency budget and other accountings for Chesapeake Bay restoration activities.
Directs the Administrator to establish measurable goals for local governments for nutrient and sediment reduction in the Chesapeake Bay.
Updates reporting deadlines for the study of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Authorizes appropriations through FY2011.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4126 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4126
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to improve and
reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 25, 2005
Mr. Gilchrest (for himself, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr.
Cardin, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Hoyer, Mrs. Drake,
Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Holden, Mr. Cummings,
Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Platts, Ms. Norton, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, and Mr.
Castle) 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 improve and
reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay program.
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 ``Chesapeake Bay Restoration
Enhancement Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 117(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
U.S.C. 1287(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3) by striking ``and its''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
``(7) chesapeake bay watershed.--The term `Chesapeake Bay
watershed' means the Chesapeake Bay and the area consisting of
36 tributary basins, within the States of Maryland, Virginia,
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York and the
District of Columbia, through which precipitation drains into
the Chesapeake Bay.
``(8) Local government advisory committee.--The term `Local
Government Advisory Committee' means the committee of the same
name formed through the 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The
committee may include representative members from all
jurisdictions within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
``(9) Tributary strategy.--The term `tributary strategy'
means one of 36 strategies in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that
is a State approved, river-specific, cleanup plan that provides
best management practice implementation actions that, when
taken together, will meet the Chesapeake Bay Agreement goal of
removing nutrient and sediment impairments from the Chesapeake
Bay and its tidal tributaries.
``(10) Tributary basin.--The term `tributary basin' means
an area of land that drains into any one of 36 Chesapeake Bay
tributaries or tributary segments and that is managed through
tributary strategies under this Act.''.
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING GRANTS.
Section 117(e)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
U.S.C. 1287(e)(1)) is amended by striking ``approved and committed to
implement all or substantially all aspects'' and inserting ``signed all
or a significant portion''.
SEC. 4. REPORTING.
Section 117 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1287) is amended by striking subsection (e)(7) and subsection (f) and
inserting the following:
``(7) Reporting.--The Administrator shall make available to
the public on or before January 31 of each year, a document
that lists and describes, in the greatest practicable degree of
detail, all completed projects and accomplishments of the
previous fiscal year funded by the Federal Government, and all
completed projects and accomplishments of the previous fiscal
year funded by a State government, for the Chesapeake Bay
watershed that contribute to Chesapeake Bay Agreement goals.
``(f) Reporting Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall publish, on or
before January 31 of each year, a `tributary health report
card' to evaluate, based on monitoring and modeling data,
progress made during the preceding fiscal year (including any
practice implemented during the fiscal year), and overall
progress made, in achieving and maintaining nutrient and
sediment reduction goals for each tributary basin.
``(2) Baseline.--The baseline for the report card (in this
subsection referred to as the `baseline') shall be the
tributary cap load allocation agreement numbered EPA 903-R-03-
007, dated December 2003, and entitled `Setting and Allocating
the Chesapeake Bay Basin Nutrient and Sediment Loads: The
Collaborative Process, Technical Tools and Innovative
Approaches'.
``(3) Inclusions.--The report card shall include, for each
tributary basin--
``(A) an identification of the total allocation of
nutrients and sediments under the baseline;
``(B) the monitored and modeled quantities of
nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reductions achieved
during the preceding fiscal year, expressed numerically
and as a percentage of reduction;
``(C) a list (organized from least to most progress
made) that ranks the comparative progress made, based
on the percentage of reduction under subparagraph (B),
by each tributary basin toward meeting the annual
allocation goal of that tributary basin for nitrogen,
phosphorus, and sediment; and
``(D) to the maximum extent practicable, an
identification of the principal sources of pollutants
of the tributaries, including airborne sources of
pollutants.
``(4) Use of data; consideration.--In preparing the report
card, the Administrator shall--
``(A) use monitoring data and data submitted under
subsection (g)(1); and
``(B) take into consideration the effects of
drought and wet weather conditions on the condition of
water quality parameters.
``(5) Distribution.--The Administrator shall--
``(A) distribute report cards to appropriate
committees of the Senate and House of Representatives;
``(B) post report cards on the Internet; and
``(C) distribute paper copies of the report cards
to the public.''.
SEC. 5. ACTIONS BY STATES.
(a) In General.--Section 117 of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act (33 U.S.C. 1287) is amended by redesignating subsections (g), (h),
(i), and (j) as subsections (i), (j), (k), and (l), respectively, and
by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
``(g) Actions by States.--
``(1) Submission of information.--Not later than November
30 of each year, each of the States of Delaware, Maryland, New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia and the
District of Columbia shall submit to the Administrator
information describing, for each tributary basin located in the
State or District of Columbia, for the preceding fiscal year--
``(A) the nutrient and sediment cap load allocation
of the basin;
``(B) the principal sources of nutrients and
sediment in the basin, by category;
``(C) for each category of pollutant source, the
technologies and practices used to achieve reductions,
including levels of best management practices
implementation and sewage treatment plan upgrades; and
``(D) any Federal, State, or non-Federal funding
used to implement a technology or practice described in
subparagraph (C).
``(2) Failure to act.--The Administrator shall not make a
grant to a State under this section if the State fails to
submit any information in accordance with paragraph (1).''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Such section is further amended--
(1) in subsection (d)(2)(B) by striking ``(g)(2)'' and
inserting ``(i)(3)''; and
(2) in subsection (e)(2)(B)(i) by striking ``and its''.
SEC. 6. PLANNING AND BUDGET REQUIREMENTS.
Section 117 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1287) (as amended by section 4(a) of this Act) is further amended by
inserting after subsection (g) the following:
``(h) Planning and Budget Requirements.--
``(1) Annual budget plan.--Not later than April 15 of each
year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in
cooperation with the Administrator, the Secretary of the
Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of
Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other
appropriate Federal agencies, shall submit to the appropriate
committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives a
report containing--
``(A) an interagency crosscut budget that displays
the proposed budget for use by each Federal agency in
carrying out restoration activities relating to the
Chesapeake Bay for the following fiscal year; and
``(B) a detailed accounting of all funds received
and obligated by Federal and State governments
(including formula and grant funds, such as State
revolving loan funds and agriculture conservation
funds) to achieve the goals of the Chesapeake Bay
Agreement during the preceding fiscal year.
``(2) Role of federal government.--Not later than 120 days
after the date of enactment of the Chesapeake Bay Restoration
Enhancement Act of 2005, the Council on Environmental Quality
shall provide to Congress a document briefly describing the
Federal role in the Chesapeake Bay Program and the specific
role of each Federal agency involved in Chesapeake Bay
restoration.
``(3) Federal actions.--Federal agencies acting in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed should plan and execute, to the
maximum extent practicable, such activities to support the
achievement of Chesapeake Bay Agreement goals.''.
SEC. 7. CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM.
Section 117(i) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
U.S.C. 1287) (as redesignated by section 4(a) of this Act) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by inserting ``tributary strategies and'' after
``ensure that'';
(B) by striking ``and implementation is begun'' and
inserting ``, approved, and implemented'';
(C) by inserting ``all or a significant portion
of'' after ``signatories to''; and
(D) by striking ``and its'';
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Local government involvement.--
``(A) Measurable goals.--The Administrator shall
establish, in coordination with other members of the
Chesapeake Executive Council and the Local Government
Advisory Committee, measurable goals for local
governments to achieve toward Chesapeake Bay Agreement
nutrient and sediment reduction goals not later than
120 days after the date of enactment of the Chesapeake
Bay Restoration Enhancement Act of 2005.
``(B) Consideration of priorities.--In preparing an
annual budget for the Chesapeake Bay under subsection
(h)(1), the Administrator shall consider priorities for
funding needs recommended by the Local Government
Advisory Committee.'';
(4) in paragraph (3)(A) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)
of this section) by striking ``as part of the Chesapeake Bay
Program; and'' and inserting ``to support tributary strategies
and other projects toward achievement of Chesapeake Bay
Agreement goals;'';
(5) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by paragraph (2) of
this section) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the
following:
``(B) provide technical assistance and assistance
grants under subsection (d) to local governments and
nonprofit organizations and individuals in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed to implement tributary
strategies and other cooperative, locally based
protection and restoration programs or projects within
a tributary basin that complement the tributary
strategy for such basin, including--
``(i) the improvement of water quality
toward Chesapeake Bay Agreement goals; or
``(ii) the creation, restoration,
protection, or enhancement of habitat
associated with the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem;
``(C) under the small watershed grants program,
make such grants--
``(i) so that local governments receive not
less than 40 percent of total annually amount
appropriated to carry out such program; and
``(ii) taking into consideration priority
recommendations provided to the Chesapeake
Executive Council by the Local Government
Advisory Committee; and
``(D) consider recommendations of the Local
Government Advisory Committee with regard to
sufficiency of grant requests in meeting tributary
strategy goals.''; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Wasteload allocations.--Before May 11, 2001, the load
allocations in the tributary strategies for any activity for
which a permit is issued under section 402 of this Act for the
Chesapeake Bay watershed shall be treated as the functional
equivalent of wasteload allocations for total maximum daily
loads and shall be incorporated in such permit.''.
SEC. 8. STUDY OF CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM.
Section 117(j) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
U.S.C. 1287(j)) (as redesignated by section 4(a) of this Act) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(B) by striking ``and 1995'' and
inserting ``1995, and 2005''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)(C)--
(A) by inserting after ``management strategies''
the following: ``, including tributary strategies,'';
and
(B) by striking ``on the date of enactment of this
section''.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 117 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1287) (as amended by section 4(a) of this Act) is amended by striking
subsections (k) and (l) and inserting the following:
``(k) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
$40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011 to carry
out this section (other than subsection (i)(3)).
``(2) Small watershed grants program.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007
through 2011 to carry out subsection (i)(3).
``(3) Period of availability.--Funds appropriated to carry
out this section shall remain available until expended.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Discharged.
Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
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