CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE ,

September 1, 1976

Page 28776

FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT AMENDMENT OF 1976

The Senate continued with the consideration of the message from the House of Representatives announcing its action on the bill (S. 2710) to extend certain authorizations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Did the Senator from Maine wish to agree to the amendment in the nature of a substitute that he just called up?

Mr. MUSKIE Mr. President, what is the pending business?

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. We just agreed. to an amendment completing action on the bill. If the Senator did not agree to do that by unanimous consent, of course, he could rescind the action.

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll..

The second assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I move that the Senate rescind the action previously taken in agreeing to the amendment in the nature of a substitute.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has asked unanimous consent, is there objection?

Without objection, it is so ordered.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will state, for the benefit of the Senate, the pending amendment in the nature of a substitute.

The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from Maine. (Mr. MUSKIE) proposes an amendment numbered 2231.

The amendment is as follows:

AMENDMENT No. 2231

Strike all the amendment of the House after the enacting clause, and insert:

SECTION 1. (a) Section 207 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stet. 839), is amended by striking the period at the end of the sentence and adding

"and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977 subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts, not to exceed $5,000,000,000.".

(b) Section 104(u) (2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254) is amended by striking out "1975" and inserting in lieu thereof "1975, $7,500000 for fiscal year 1977,".

(c) Section 104(u) (3) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254) is amended by striking out "1975" and inserting in lieu thereof "1975, $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1977,".

(d) Section 106(a) (2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1256) is amended by striking out "and the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975;" and inserting in lieu thereof "and the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, and $75,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977,".

(e) Section 112(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C 1262) is amended by inserting "$25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977," immediately after "June 30, 1975,".

(f) Section 205(f) (3) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1288) is amended by striking out "and not to exceed $150,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30,1975." and inserting in lieu thereof "and not to exceed $150,000,000 per fiscal year for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1975, and September 30,1977.".

(g) Section 314(c) (2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1324) is amended by striking out "and $150,000,000 for the fiscal year 1975" and insetting in lieu thereof ", $150,000,000 for the fiscal year 1975; and $150,000,000 for fiscal year 1977.".

(h) Section 517 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1376) Is amended by striking out "and $350,000,000 for the fiscalyear ending June 30, 1975," and inserting in lieu thereof ", $350,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, and $350,000,000 for thefiscal year ending September 3, 1977.".

Sec. 2. Section 109(b) (3) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stet. 830) iIs amended by striking "$250.000" and inserting in lieu thereof. "$500,000".

Sec. a. Subsection (b) (1) of section 205 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stat. 837), is amended by striking "one year" and by inserting after the second sentence the following "The sums first made available for obligation during fiscal year 1976 shall continue to be available for obligation until September 80,1978."

Sec. 4. Section 205 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stet. 837), is amended by adding the following new subsection:

"(c) Sums authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 207 for each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1976, shall be allotted by the Administrator on October 1 of the fiscal year for which authorized. Sumsauthorized for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977, shall be allotted in accordance with the following table:

[Table omitted]

If the sums allotted to the States for a fiscal year are made subject to a limitation on obligation by an appropriation Act, such limitation shall apply to each State in proportion to its allotment".

SEC. 5. (a) Section 208(b) (1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stat. 840), is amended by inserting "(A)"after "(b) (1)" and by adding the following new subparagraph:

"(B) For any agency designated during 1976 under subsection (a) of this section and for all portions of a State for which the State is required to act as the planning agency in accordance with subsection (a) (6), the initial plan prepared in accordance with such process shall be certified by the Governor and submitted to the Administrator not later than three years after the receipt of the initial grant award as authorized under subsection (f) of this section.".

(b) Section 208(f) (2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 2188) is amended to read as follows:

"(2) For the two year period beginning on the date the first grant is made under paragraph (1) of this subsection to an agency, if such first grant is made before October 1, 1977, the amount of each such grant to such agency shall be 100 per centum of the costs of developing and operating a continuing areawide waste treatment management planning process under subsection (b) of this section, and thereafter the amount granted to such agency shall not exceed 75 per centum of such costs in such succeeding one year period. In the case of any other grant made to an agency under such paragraph (1) of this subsection, the amount of such grant shall not exceed 75 per centum of the costs of developing and operating a continuing areawide waste treatment management planning process in any year.".

(c) The second sentence of section 208(f) (3) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1288) is amended by striking out the period at the end thereof and inserting in lieu thereof a comma and the following: "subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts.".

SEC. 8. Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, is amended by adding the following new section:

"LOAN GUARANTEES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TREATMENT WORKS

"SEC. 213. (a) Subject to the conditions of this section and to such terms and conditions as the Administrator determines to be necessary to carry out the purposes of this title, the Administrator is authorized to guarantee, and to make commitments to guarantee, the principal and interest (including interest accruing between the date of default and the date of the payment in full of the guarantee) of any loan, obligation, or participation therein of any State, municipality, or intermunicipal or interstate agency issued directly and exclusively to the Federal Financing Bank to finance that part of the cost of any grant eligible project for the construction of publicly owned treatment works not paid for with Federal financial assistance under this title (other than this section), which project the Administrator has determined to be eligible for such financial assistance under this title, including, but not limited to, projects eligible for reimbursement under section 206 of this title.

"(b) No guarantee, or commitment to make a guarantee, may be made pursuant to this section—

"(1) unless the Administrator certifies that the issuing body is unable to obtain on reasonable terms sufficient credit to finance its actual needs without such guarantee; and

"(2) unless the Administrator determines that there is a reasonable assurance of repayment of the loan, obligation, or participation therein.

A determination of whether financing is available at reasonable rates shall be made with relationship to the current average yield on outstanding marketable obligations of municipalities of comparable maturity.

"(c) The Administrator is authorized to charge reasonable fees for the investigation of an application for a guarantee and for the issuance of a commitment to make a guarantee.

"(d) The Administrator, in determining whether there is a reasonable assurance of repayment, may require a commitment to apply to such repayment (1) all or any portion of the funds retained by such grantee under section 204(b) (3) of this Act, and (2) any funds received by such grantee from the amounts appropriated under section 208 of this Act

SEC. 7. Section 301 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stat 844) , is amended by adding the following new subsection:

"(g) (1) Upon application by a State on a case-by-case basis, the Administrator may extend the time for achieving the requirements of subsections (b) (1) (B) and (b) (1) (C) of this section beyond the date specified in such subsection for any publicly owned treatment works: Provided, That (A) the Administrator determines that the construction of such treatment works necessary for the achievement of such requirements cannot be completed by the date specified because Federal assistance under title II of this Act has not been available, or has not been available for a sufficient time, or because funds to pay the non-Federal portion of the costs of construction of such treatment works have become unavailable subsequent to a commitment by the Administrator to provide Federal assistance under title II; and (B) the State demonstrates that the priority for Federal funding of treatment works which the State accords to the treatment works for which such extension is sought and to all treatment works within the State will assure compliance with this section, and is designed to maximize compliance with subsection (b)(1)(B) and (b)(1)(C) by the date specified in such subsections and with the objective of this Act.

"(2) No time extension granted under this subsection shall extend beyond July 1, 1980.

"(3) Upon application on a case-by-case basis, the permitting authority under section 402 of this Act may, in the case of a publicly owned treatment works which has been granted an extension under paragraph (1) of this subsection, extend the time for achieving the requirements of subsection (b) of this section for the period of the extension granted under paragraph (1) of this subsection, for any point source which on or before January 1, 1975, had a permit under section 402 of this Act or a contract (enforceable against such point source) to discharge its effluent into a publicly owned treatment works which is granted an extension under paragraph (1) of this subsection and which in that manner intends to comply with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section: Provided, That such point source complies during the period of such extension with all applicable pretreatment requirements under section 307(b) of this Act or otherwise required under a permit issued by the Administrator or a State.

"(4) For the purpose of paragraph (1) of this subsection, the term 'publicly owned treatment works' shall not include a federally owned treatment works.".

SEC. 8. (a) Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stat. 880) is amended by adding the following new subsection:

"(I)(1)(A) Except as provided in section 404 of this Act, any discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters shall be required to be in compliance with a permit issued under this section.

"(B) Any permit for the discharge of dredged or fill material issued under this section shall be considered in accordance with, and shall comply with, the guidelines published under section 404(b) (1) of this Act, and the authority of section 404(c) of this Act shall apply to the consideration of any such permit and the specification of any disposal site.

"(2) At any time after the enactment of this subsection, the Governor of each State desiring to administer its own permit program for discharges of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters within its jurisdiction (under this section and section 404(a) of this Act) may seek approval of its program in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. The Administrator shall approve each such program unless he determines, after consultation with the Secretary of the Army, that (A) it does not have adequate authority in accordance with subsection (b) of this section with respect to, discharge of dredged or fill material, or (B) it does not contain adequate. guidelines for the consideration of permits comparable to those under section 404(b) (1) of this Act or adequate authority comparable to that under section 404(c) of this Act. Any State program approved under this paragraph shall be subject to the provisions of subsections (c) through (k) of this section, and any permit under a program approved under this paragraph shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army under subsection (b) (6) of this section and section 511(a) of this Act and the Administrator under section 404(c). Approval of a program otherwise submitted under subsection (b) of this section shall not be delayed by submittal of a program under this paragraph, and a program submitted under this paragraph may be distinct from, or administered by a different State agency than, any program otherwise submitted or approved under subsection (b) of this section.

"(a) (A) The placement of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters shall not constitute a point source discharge of pollutants required to have a permit under this subsection or section 404 of this Act, where such placement—

"(i) results from normal farming, silviculture and ranching activities, such as plowing, cultivating, seeding, and harvesting for the production of food, fiber, and forest products:

"(ii) is for the purpose of maintenance, including emergency reconstruction of recently damaged parts, of currently serviceable structures such as dikes, dams, levees, groins, riprap, breakwaters, causeways, and bridge abutments or approaches, and transportation structures;

"(iii) is for the purpose of the construction or maintenance of farm or stock ponds or irrigation ditches, or the maintenance of drainage ditches;

"(iv) is for the purpose of the construction or maintenance of silt or sediment control impoundments associated with mining operations, except to the extent such impoundments are required to comply with effluent limitations and guidelines pursuant to sections 301, 304(b)and (c), and 307(a) of this Act;

"(v) is for the purpose of the construction or maintenance of farm roads or forest roads, or temporary roads for moving mining equipment where such roads are constructed and maintained in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Administrator which assure that flow and circulation patterns and chemical and biological characteristics of the navigable waters are not impaired, that the reach of the navigable waters is not reduced, and that any adverse effect an the aquatic environment will be otherwise minimized; or

"(vi) is for the disposal of dredged material renewed in maintaining a federally authorized navigation channel or non-Federal access channels contiguous to the authorized project, in specified confined disposal areas where such disposal areas are landward of the mean high water mark, where the State in which such disposal areas are located has a program approved under paragraph (2) of this subsection for the control of dredged or fill material disposal or the protection of wetlands and such disposal areas are specified under and in compliance with such program, and where pollutants in such confined disposal areas will not migrate to cause water or other environmental pollution.

"(B) Any placement of dredged or fill material specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall only be considered a nonpoint source subject to regulation under this Act under sections 208 and 303 (d) and (e) of this Act. 

"(C) Any placement or discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters incidental to the construction of a dike or other activity for the purpose of bringing an. area of the navigable waters into a farming, silviculture, or ranching use to which it was not previously subject, where the flow or circulation of the navigable waters may be impaired or the reach of such waters be reduced, shall be required to have a permit under this subsection or section 404 of this Act. Any placement or discharge of dredged or fill material containing toxic pollutants into the navigable waters shall be required to have a permit under this subsection or section 404 of this Act, and to be in compliance with sections 301, 307(a), and 404(b)(1) and (e) of this Act

(4) (A) Consistent with the requirements of this section., the Administrator, the Secretary of the Army under section 404 of this Act, or a State with a permit program approved under paragraph (2) of this subsection may, after notice and opportunity for public hearings, issue general permits for classes or categories of discharges of dredged or fill material subject to this section or section. 404, where the discharges authorized by any such general permit are similar in nature, cause only minimal adverse environmental impact when performed separately, and will have only minimal cumulative adverse effect on the environment.

"(B) Any such general permit issued under this paragraph shall be in lieu of individual permits required under this subsection (or section 404). Such general permits shall be conditioned on compliance with (i) specific requirements or standards, including State standards or management practices for the activity authorized by such general permit, and (ii) the guidelines under section 404(b) (I). Any general permit shall be for a maximum period of five years and shall be subject to being revoked or modified after opportunity for public hearing, if the requirements of this paragraph are not being complied with, or if the activities authorized by such general permit may have an effect which is more appropriate for consideration in individual permits.

"(5) The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized to make available to the Administrator such personnel or facilities under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Engineers as may be necessary for the implementation of this subsection.".

(b) Section 404 of the Federal Water pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stat. 884), is amended by adding the following new subsection—

"(d) For the purposes of this section, the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army shall be limited to those portions of the navigable waters (1) that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide shoreward to their mean high water mark (mean higher high water mark on the Pacific coast), and (2) that have been used, are now used, or are susceptible to use as a means to transport interstate commerce, up to the head of their navigation, and (3) that are contiguous or adjacent wetlands marshes, shallows, swamps, meditate, and similar areas.".

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Who yields time?

Mr. MUSKIE. As I understand it, Mr. President, the committee amendment is now the pending business and subject to amendment?

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct.

Mr. MUSKIE. I thank the Chair and the Parliamentarian.

Mr. DOMENICI Mr. President, a parliamentary inquiry.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator will state it.

Mr. DOMENICI. Under the previous order, this is amendable and there is a time agreement with reference to amendments; is that correct?

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct.

Mr. DOMENICI. And what is such agreement with reference to time?

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Debate on the bill is limited to 2 hours to be equally divided and controlled between the majority and minority leaders or their designees. There is 1 hour on any amendment in the first degree; 20 minutes on any amendment in the second degree, debatable motion, appeal, or point of order.

Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Chair.

Mr. MUSKIE. I yield to the distinguished chairman of the Public Works Committee (Mr. RANDOLPH).