S. 147 (112th): Great Lakes Water Protection Act

Introduced:
Jan 25, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Sen. Mark Kirk [R-IL]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as S. 571 on Mar 14, 2013. See S. 571 for current action on this subject.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on January 25, 2011, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Jan 25, 2011
Referred to Committee Jan 25, 2011
Cosponsors
1 cosponsors (1D) (show)
Committees

Senate Environment and Public Works

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a deadline for restricting sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to fund programs and activities for improving wastewater discharges into the Great Lakes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Jan 25, 2011.
9 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

1/25/2011--Introduced.
Great Lakes Water Protection Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) from intentionally diverting waste streams to bypass any portion of the treatment facility if the diversion results in a discharge into the Great Lakes unless:
(1) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;
(2) there is no feasible alternative; and
(3) the treatment works provides notice; or
(4) the bypass does not cause effluent limitations to be exceeded and is for essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of the treatment facility.
Requires:
(1) such notice to be provided to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (or to a state with an approved permit program) prior to an anticipated bypass or by no later than 24 hours after the time at which the POTW first becomes aware of an unanticipated bypass; and
(2) follow-up notice regarding the cause and duration of, volume of discharge resulting from, and public access areas affected by an unanticipated bypass.
Includes among prohibited bypasses those resulting in discharges from a POTW that consist of effluent routed around treatment units and blended with effluent from treatment units prior to discharge.
Directs the Administrator to establish procedures to ensure that permits issued to POTWs under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System include requirements to implement this Act. Provides an increased maximum civil penalty for violations occurring on or after January 1, 2031.
Applies the prohibition on diverting waste streams to a bypass occurring after the last day of the one-year period beginning on the date of this Act's enactment.
Establishes the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund from which amounts shall be provided for improving wastewater discharges.

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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