Great Lakes Water Protection Act
Latest action · Jan 6, 2009 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 6, 2009
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Great Lakes Water Protection Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly 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 within 24 hours of becoming 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, 2029.
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.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jan 6, 2009.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-IL | Daniel Lipinski | Original | Jan 6, 2009 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 6, 2009Introduced in House
- Jan 6, 2009Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
- Jan 6, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
- Jan 6, 2009Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E11)
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Environmental Protection.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 6, 2009Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.