A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a pilot competitive grant program for improving the sharing of water quality data, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2767 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a pilot competitive grant program for improving the sharing of water quality data, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 31, 2019 Mr. JONES (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) 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 estab- lish a pilot competitive grant program for improving the sharing of water quality data, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. WATER QUALITY DATA SHARING PILOT PRO- 3 GRAM. 4 Title V of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 5 is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating section 520 (33 U.S.C. 7 1251 note) as section 521; and 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2767.IS S2767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2767 IS (2) by inserting after section 519 (33 U.S.C. 1 1377a) the following: 2 ‘‘SEC. 520. WATER QUALITY DATA SHARING PILOT PRO- 3 GRAM. 4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es- 5 tablish a competitive grant pilot program (referred to in 6 this section as the ‘pilot program’) under which the Ad- 7 ministrator may award grants to eligible States under sub- 8 section (b) to establish systems that improve the sharing 9 of information concerning water quality, sources of water 10 pollution, and water infrastructure needs among counties 11 and other units of local government of the State, which 12 may include— 13 ‘‘(1) establishing a website or data hub to ex- 14 change water quality data; and 15 ‘‘(2) inter-county communications initiatives re- 16 lated to water quality. 17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATES.—A State shall be eligible for 18 a grant under the pilot program if the State— 19 ‘‘(1) has a coastal watershed with significant 20 pollution levels; and 21 ‘‘(2) has counties or other units of local govern- 22 ment with significant individual wastewater infra- 23 structure deficits. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2767.IS S2767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2767 IS ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 1 under the pilot program, an eligible State under sub- 2 section (b) shall submit to the Administrator an applica- 3 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 4 information as the Administrator may require. 5 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pilot 7 program such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 8 years 2020 through 2025.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Nov 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2767.IS S2767 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS