Legislation News & Report (TM) 

TheWeekInCongress.com (TM)

Managing America: Environment & Resources

TheWeekInCongress.com (TM)

Week Ending March 9, 2006

H.R.569 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize appropriations for sewer overflow control grants.

The bill at base reauthorizes appropriations for grants to municipalities and States to control combined severe overflows and sanitary sewer overflows. The bill report explained that storm water and separate sanitary sewer systems can overflow with untreated waste during heavy rains and other wet weather and because of poor system capacity, design, maintenance, inflow from improper system connections and groundwater infiltration into deteriorated pipes. The raw sewage then can overflow into rivers, lakes, streets, parks, basements and other areas of human exposure.

Such systems are called combined sewer systems or sanitary sewer systems and 31 states and 772 US communities have them to include 9,471 relief outlets into nearby streams, rivers, lakes or estuaries so to protect the system from being overtaxed. Most such systems are in the Northeast US and the Great Lakes regions but the problem exists in the West to include Washington, Oregon and California. A 40,000 sanitary system overflows occur yearly.

To solve the problems the communities must redesign their sewer systems.

The cost to communities of addressing Combined System Overflows is estimated to be $50.6 billion, and the cost of addressing Sanitary System Overflows is estimated to be $88.5 billion. Local communities tend to foot the bill with some Federal assistance and State assistance, too. State revolving funds have spent around $6 billion in loans to address the problem.

Current law is amended to require projects receiving sewer overflow control grants are carried out with the same requirements imposed by State water pollution control revolving funds unless the Governor of the State determines that the requirement is inconsistent with the purposes of the project funding.

First round funding can go directly to the municipalities from the Administrator. Second round funds would go to the States for redistribution. States will administer the grants as they would through the State Revolving Loan Funds.

Sponsor:  Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ-8^th)

Vote: Passed House 367 to 58 March 7, 2007 (RC 125)

Cost to the taxpayers: $250 million for 2008, $300 million for 2009, $350 million for 2010, $400 million for 2011 and $500 million for 2012. ($1.8 billion). “CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would cost about $1.45 billion over the next five years and an additional $0.35 billion after 2012.”

Earmark Certification:   Not applicable to this bill.

## All Rights Reserved. © 2007 TheWeekInCongress.com(TM)

No reproduction, language translation or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.(TM)

MORE INFORMATION

AMENDMENTS

Amendment offered by Mr. King (IA).

An amendment numbered 3 printed in the Congressional Record to reduce funds in the sewer overflow control grants section by 5 percent.

Agreed to by voice vote March 7, 2007 

Amendment offered by Mr. Price (GA).

An amendment numbered 1 printed in the Congressional Record to add a new section to the bill requiring offsets.

Failed in the House 166 to 260  March 7, 2007 (RC 123)

Amendment offered by Mr. Rohrabacher.

An amendment numbered 2 printed in the Congressional Record to add the following new subsection participation in employment eligibility verification pilot program.

Ruled non-germane by the Chair.