Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2019

IB Union Calendar No. 387 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1497 [Report No. 116–484] To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize certain water pollution control programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2019 Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 Additional sponsors: Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. FINKENAUER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE, Ms. TITUS, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. DEAN, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. LAMB, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. TAKANO, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LAR- SEN of Washington, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Ms. KUSTER of New Hamp- shire, Mr. BEYER, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. MCADAMS, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. TRONE, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. CASE, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. WILSON of Flor- ida, Mr. BRINDISI, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. SIRES, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. KIND, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. MOULTON SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1497 RH A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reau- thorize certain water pollution control programs, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1497 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Quality Protec- 4 tion and Job Creation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE WORKFORCE IN- 6 VESTMENT. 7 Section 104(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 8 Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(g)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘manpower’’ 10 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘workforce’’; and 11 (2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol- 12 lows: 13 ‘‘(4) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON PUBLICLY OWNED 14 TREATMENT WORKS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.—Not 15 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the 16 Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 17 2019, the Administrator shall submit to the Com- 18 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Envi- 20 ronment and Public Works of the Senate a report con- 21 taining— 22 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the current and fu- 23 ture workforce needs for publicly owned treat- 24 ment works, including an estimate of the number 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1497 RH of future positions needed for such treatment 1 works and the technical skills and education 2 needed for such positions; 3 ‘‘(B) a summary of actions taken by the 4 Administrator, including Federal investments 5 under this Act, that promote workforce develop- 6 ment to address such needs; and 7 ‘‘(C) any recommendations of the Adminis- 8 trator to address such needs.’’. 9 SEC. 3. STATE MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE. 10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 11 106(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 12 U.S.C. 1256(a)) is amended— 13 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 14 (1); and 15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(3) such sums as may be necessary for each of 18 fiscal years 1991 through 2020; 19 ‘‘(4) $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 20 ‘‘(5) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 21 ‘‘(6) $260,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 22 ‘‘(7) $270,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 23 ‘‘(8) $275,000,000 for fiscal year 2025;’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1497 RH (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 106(e) of the 1 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1256(e)) 2 is amended by striking ‘‘Beginning in fiscal year 1974 the’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘The’’. 4 SEC. 4. WATERSHED, WET WEATHER, AND RESILIENCY 5 PROJECTS. 6 (a) INCREASED RESILIENCE OF TREATMENT 7 WORKS.—Section 122(a)(6) of the Federal Water Pollution 8 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1274(a)(6)) is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(6) INCREASED RESILIENCE OF TREATMENT 11 WORKS.—Efforts— 12 ‘‘(A) to assess future risks and 13 vulnerabilities of publicly owned treatment 14 works to manmade or natural disasters, includ- 15 ing extreme weather events and sea level rise; 16 and 17 ‘‘(B) to carry out the planning, designing, 18 or constructing of projects, on a systemwide or 19 areawide basis, to increase the resilience of pub- 20 licly owned treatment works through— 21 ‘‘(i) the conservation of water or the 22 enhancement of water use efficiency; 23 ‘‘(ii) the enhancement of wastewater 24 (including stormwater) management by in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1497 RH creasing watershed preservation and protec- 1 tion, including through— 2 ‘‘(I) the use of green infrastruc- 3 ture; or 4 ‘‘(II) the reclamation and reuse of 5 wastewater (including stormwater), 6 such as through aquifer recharge zones; 7 ‘‘(iii) the modification or relocation of 8 an existing publicly owned treatment works 9 at risk of being significantly impaired or 10 damaged by a manmade or natural dis- 11 aster; or 12 ‘‘(iv) the enhancement of energy effi- 13 ciency, or the use or generation of recovered 14 or renewable energy, in the management, 15 treatment, or conveyance of wastewater (in- 16 cluding stormwater).’’. 17 (b) REQUIREMENTS; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 18 TIONS.—Section 122 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 19 Act (33 U.S.C. 1274) is amended by striking subsection (c) 20 and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 22 608 shall apply to any construction, alteration, mainte- 23 nance, or repair of treatment works receiving a grant under 24 this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1497 RH ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall use not 1 less than 15 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant 2 to this section in a fiscal year to provide assistance to mu- 3 nicipalities with a population of less than 10,000, to the 4 extent there are sufficient eligible applications. 5 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 6 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 7 $110,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 8 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 9 (1) WATERSHED PILOT PROJECTS.—Section 122 10 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 11 1274) is amended— 12 (A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘WA- 13 TERSHED PILOT PROJECTS’’ and inserting 14 ‘‘WATERSHED, WET WEATHER, AND RESIL- 15 IENCY PROJECTS’’; and 16 (B) by striking ‘‘pilot’’ each place it ap- 17 pears. 18 (2) WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 19 LOAN FUNDS.—Section 603(c)(7) of the Federal Water 20 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)(7)) is 21 amended by striking ‘‘watershed’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1497 RH SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM FOR ALTERNATIVE WATER 1 SOURCE PROJECTS. 2 (a) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—Section 220(d) of the 3 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1300(d)) 4 is amended— 5 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 6 lows: 7 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY.—A project 8 that has received construction funds under the Rec- 9 lamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act 10 of 1992 shall not be eligible for grant assistance under 11 this section.’’; and 12 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating 13 paragraph (3) as paragraph (2). 14 (b) COMMITTEE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE; ASSIST- 15 ANCE.—Section 220 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 16 Act (33 U.S.C. 1300) is amended by striking subsection (e) 17 and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall use not 19 less than 15 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant 20 to this section in a fiscal year to provide assistance to eligi- 21 ble entities for projects designed to serve fewer than 10,000 22 individuals, to the extent there are sufficient eligible appli- 23 cations.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1497 RH (c) COST SHARING.—Section 220(g) of the Federal 1 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1300(g)) is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘The Federal share’’ and insert- 4 ing the following: 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 6 graph (2), the Federal share’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(2) RECLAMATION AND REUSE PROJECTS.—For 9 an alternative water source project that has received 10 funds under the Reclamation Projects Authorization 11 and Adjustment Act of 1992 (other than funds re- 12 ferred to in subsection (d)(1)), the total Federal share 13 of the costs of the project shall not exceed 25 percent 14 or $20,000,000, whichever is less.’’. 15 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 220 of the Federal 16 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1300) is amended 17 by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as subsections (j) 18 and (k), respectively, and inserting after subsection (h) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 21 608 shall apply to any construction of an alternative water 22 source project carried out using assistance made available 23 under this section.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1497 RH (e) DEFINITIONS.—Section 220(j)(1) of the Federal 1 Water Pollution Control Act (as redesignated by subsection 2 (d) of this section) is amended by striking ‘‘or wastewater 3 or by treating wastewater’’ and inserting ‘‘, wastewater, or 4 stormwater or by treating wastewater or stormwater’’. 5 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 6 220(k) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (as redes- 7 ignated by subsection (d) of this section) is amended by 8 striking ‘‘$75,000,000 for fiscal years 2002 through 2004’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘$150,000,000’’. 10 SEC. 6. SEWER OVERFLOW AND STORMWATER REUSE MU- 11 NICIPAL GRANTS. 12 Section 221 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 13 (33 U.S.C. 1301) is amended— 14 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 15 (b),’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘this sec- 16 tion,’’; 17 (2) in subsection (d)— 18 (A) by striking ‘‘The Federal share’’ and in- 19 serting the following: 20 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 22 subparagraph (B), the Federal share’’; and 23 (B) by striking ‘‘The non-Federal share’’ 24 and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1497 RH ‘‘(B) FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED COMMU- 1 NITIES.—The Federal share of the cost of activi- 2 ties carried out using amounts from a grant 3 made to a financially distressed community 4 under subsection (a) shall be not less than 75 5 percent of the cost. 6 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 7 share’’; 8 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘section 513’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘section 513, or the requirements of sec- 10 tion 608,’’; and 11 (4) in subsection (f)— 12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2020’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘2025’’; and 14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out subsection 16 (a), the Administrator shall ensure that, of the 17 amounts granted to municipalities in a State, not less 18 than 20 percent is granted to municipalities with a 19 population of less than 20,000, to the extent there are 20 sufficient eligible applications.’’. 21 SEC. 7. NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION 22 SYSTEM. 23 (a) TERMS.—Section 402(b)(1) of the Federal Water 24 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(b)(1)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1497 RH (1) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 1 follows: 2 ‘‘(B) are for fixed terms— 3 ‘‘(i) not exceeding 10 years, for a permit 4 issued in accordance with subsection (t); and 5 ‘‘(ii) not exceeding 5 years, for a permit not 6 described in clause (i);’’; and 7 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub- 8 paragraph (E), and inserting after subparagraph (C) 9 the following: 10 ‘‘(D) do not continue in force beyond the last 11 day of the fixed term, except as provided in subsection 12 (k)(2); and’’. 13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 402 of the Federal 14 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amend- 15 ed— 16 (1) in subsection (k)— 17 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Compliance 18 with’’; 19 (B) by striking ‘‘of (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘of 20 (A)’’; 21 (C) by striking ‘‘or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘or 22 (B)’’; and 23 (D) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1497.RH H1497 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1497 RH ‘‘(2) PERMIT RENEWAL OR REISSUANCE.—If a 1 permittee applies to a State to renew or reissue a per- 2 mit under this section, in compliance with the ap- 3 proved State permit program under subsection (b), 4 and the State does not make a final administrative 5 disposition of the application by the last day of the 6 term of the permit— 7 ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days after such last 8 day of the term of the permit, the State shall no- 9 tify the Administrator, the Committee on Trans- 10 portation and Infrastructure of the House of 11 Representatives, and the Committee on Environ- 12 ment and Public Works of the Senate of such 13 failure to make a final [Text truncated for display. 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