National water quality protection as a 'pay-as-you-go'
CBO estimates that implementing this legislation effects on direct spending and revenues over the 2009-2013 and 2009-2018 periods are relevant for enforcing pay-as-you-go rules under the current budget resolution. CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would reduce revenues by about $36 million over that five-year period and by $547 million over the 2009-2018 period. Enacting the bill also would reduce direct spending by about $266 million over the 2009-2013 period and about $625 million over the 2009-2018 period. Together, those changes would yield net pay-as-you-go savings of $230 million over five years and about $78 million over 10 years.
H.R. 1262 contains several intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), including monitoring, reporting, and public notification requirements for publicly owned treatment systems. The bill also includes an additional reporting requirement for states. CBO estimates that the annual cost of complying with those mandates would likely exceed the threshold established in UMRA ($69 million for intergovernmental mandates in 2009, adjusted annually for inflation).
Spending Subject to Appropriation
This legislation would authorize appropriations totaling about $18.7 billion over the next five years for EPA’s water infrastructure and grant programs. Amounts authorized to be appropriated for individual programs are shown in Table 2.
This legislation would authorize appropriations totaling about $18.7 billion over the next five years for EPA’s water infrastructure and grant programs. Amounts authorized to be appropriated for individual programs are shown in Table 2.
ESTIMATED IMPACT ON STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS
H.R. 1262 would require treatment plants to comply with a number of new requirements. Those requirements are not conditions of federal assistance, and consequently, they would be intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA. Specifically, the bill would require:
H.R. 1262 would require treatment plants to comply with a number of new requirements. Those requirements are not conditions of federal assistance, and consequently, they would be intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA. Specifically, the bill would require:
- Institute and utilize a monitoring program for sewer overflows, including combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows;
- Notify the public of a sewer overflow within 24 hours;
- Notify public health authorities and other affected entities, such as public water systems, if there is an imminent and substantial risk to human health due to a sewer overflow;
- Provide a report of an overflow within 24 hours to the state or to the Administrator of EPA;
- Report each sewer overflow on its monthly discharge monitoring report to EPA or the treatment plant’s state. This report must include the magnitude, cause, and mitigation efforts for the specific overflows; and
- Submit an annual report to EPA or the state on the number of overflows in a calendar year, including the details of magnitude, duration, location, potentially affected receiving waters, and mitigation efforts.
If a state receives a report under this requirement, that state must submit to EPA a summary of the report.
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