Federal

Land and Water Conservation Fund Water Amendments Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 827 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes a federal conservation program called the Land and Water Conservation Fund to include funding for water quality improvement projects. The Secretary of the Interior (the federal official who runs the Department of the Interior) would be able to give money to states for projects that clean up polluted water.

Who It Affects

States that want to improve water quality in polluted bodies of water. The Secretary of the Interior. The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the federal agency that oversees environmental law). Individuals or organizations conducting water quality projects in states.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of the Interior can provide financial assistance (money) to states for water quality projects that restore polluted water bodies (Sec. 2(3)(C)(B)). • States must identify polluted bodies of water and proposed water quality projects in their statewide outdoor recreation plans (Sec. 2(2)). • Water quality projects must focus on improving natural water systems like wetlands, marshes, or living shorelines to reduce nutrient loads (excess nutrients in water) (Sec. 2(3)(C)(E)(i)). • The Secretary cannot use this funding to pay for projects that have already been completed or are already fully funded (Sec. 2(3)(C)(E)(ii)). • The Secretary must consult with the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator when carrying out this program (Sec. 2(3)(C)(D)).

What Changes

The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which previously only funded outdoor recreation and basic recreation facilities, now can also fund water quality improvement projects in polluted waters identified under federal law.

Important Definitions

"Water quality project" means any project in a state water quality control plan designed to restore a body of water that the state identifies as polluted under federal water pollution laws (Sec. 2(3)(C)(A)).

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 798 To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make financial assistance to States under the Land and Water Conservation Fund available for water quality projects, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2023 Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend title 54, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make financial assistance to States under the Land and Water Conservation Fund available for water quality projects, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Land and Water Con- 4 servation Fund Water Amendments Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S798.IS S798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 798 IS SEC. 2. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR WATER 1 QUALITY PROJECTS. 2 Section 200305 of title 54, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a), in the second sentence, by 5 inserting ‘‘and water quality improvement’’ after 6 ‘‘outdoor recreation’’; 7 (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(5) WATER QUALITY.—A comprehensive state- 10 wide outdoor recreation plan shall identify— 11 ‘‘(A) any body of water within the bound- 12 aries of the State for which a State water qual- 13 ity control plan has been developed pursuant to 14 section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution 15 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1313(d)); and 16 ‘‘(B) any proposed water quality project 17 (as defined in subsection (e)(4)(A)) to be con- 18 ducted with respect to a body of water that is 19 identified under subparagraph (A).’’; and 20 (3) in subsection (e)— 21 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND DE- 22 VELOPMENT OF BASIC OUTDOOR RECREATION 23 FACILITIES’’ and inserting ‘‘, DEVELOPMENT 24 OF BASIC OUTDOOR RECREATION FACILITIES, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S798.IS S798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 798 IS AND CONDUCT OF WATER QUALITY 1 PROJECTS’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and 3 (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (3), and (4)’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(4) WATER QUALITY PROJECTS.— 6 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF WATER QUALITY 7 PROJECT.—In this paragraph, the term ‘water 8 quality project’ means any project identified in 9 a State water quality control plan developed for 10 the purpose of restoring any body of water that 11 is identified by the State under section 303(d) 12 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 13 U.S.C. 1313(d)) as being impaired. 14 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Under 15 paragraph (1), the Secretary may provide finan- 16 cial assistance for the conduct of water quality 17 projects. 18 ‘‘(C) NON-FEDERAL SHARE CREDIT.—The 19 Secretary may credit toward the non-Federal 20 share required under subsection (c) funds allo- 21 cated by a State for the conduct of a water 22 quality project. 23 ‘‘(D) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary 24 shall consult with the Administrator of the En- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S798.IS S798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 798 IS vironmental Protection Agency in carrying out 1 this paragraph. 2 ‘‘(E) LIMITATIONS.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In providing fi- 4 nancial assistance to water quality projects 5 under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 6 only provide financial assistance to water 7 quality projects that seek to improve water 8 quality by improving, restoring, or devel- 9 oping natural hydrological systems, such as 10 wetlands, marshes, living shorelines, or any 11 other naturally occurring hydrological fea- 12 tures the Secretary determines to be nec- 13 essary for the purpose of reducing nutrient 14 loads. 15 ‘‘(ii) NO REIMBURSEMENT.—Funds 16 made available for a water quality project 17 under this paragraph may not be used to 18 reimburse the cost of any water quality 19 project that has already been completed or 20 is otherwise fully funded. 21 ‘‘(iii) EFFECT.—Nothing in this para- 22 graph— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S798.IS S798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 798 IS ‘‘(I) expands the authority of the 1 Federal Government over nonnav- 2 igable waters; or 3 ‘‘(II) authorizes the Secretary to 4 regulate the conduct of water quality 5 projects.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S798.IS S798 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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