{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2010-12-22-pt1-PgE2245-5", "2010-12-22", 111, 2, null, null, "S. 3481--A BILL TO AMEND THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2245", "E2246", "[{\"name\": \"Eleanor Holmes Norton\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"111\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3481\"}, {\"congress\": \"111\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3481\"}, {\"congress\": \"111\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"5724\"}]", "156 Cong. Rec. E2245", "Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 173 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 173 (Wednesday, December 22, 2010)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2245-E2246]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n    S. 3481--A BILL TO AMEND THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT\n\n                                 ______\n\n                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON\n\n                      of the district of columbia\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                      Wednesday, December 22, 2010\n\n  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 3481\nto amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which clarifies that\nthe Federal Government, like private citizens and businesses, must take\nresponsibility for the pollution it produces. This bill is the Senate\ncompanion to my bill, H.R. 5724, cosponsored by my good friends from\nVirginia and Arizona, Rep. Jim Moran and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The\nbill passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support because the\nSenate understood that this is simply an issue of fairness and equity\nto users and a matter of managing pollution and protecting the\nenvironment, In fact, this bill simply clarifies current law, that the\nFederal Government has a responsibility to pay its normal and customary\nfees assessed by local governments for managing polluted stormwater\nrunoff from federal properties, just as private citizens pay. The\nconsequence of failing to pass this bill is that we give the Federal\nGovernment a free ride and pass its fees on to our constituents\nthroughout the United States.\n  Section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act states, ``Each\ndepartment, agency, or instrumentality . . . of the Federal Government\n. . . shall be subject to, and comply with all Federal, State,\ninterstate, and local requirements . . . in the same manner, and to the\nsame extent as any nongovernmental entity including the payment of\nreasonable service charges.'' However, the Government Accountability\nOffice issued letters to Federal agencies in the District of Columbia\ninstructing them not to pay the District of Columbia's Water and Sewer\nAuthority's (D.C. Water's) Impervious Area Charge. D.C. Water\ncalculates the charges to manage stormwater runoff based on the amount\nof impervious land occupied by the landowner. Impervious surfaces, such\nas roofs, parking lots, sidewalks and other hardened surfaces are the\nmajor contributors to stormwater runoff entering the sewer system and\nlocal rivers, lakes and streams, causing significant amounts of\npollutants to enter these waters. This bill clarifies that in my\ndistrict and all others congressional districts, Federal agencies must\ncontinue to pay their utility fees instead of passing the fees to our\nconstituents.\n  Nothing in this Act was intended to affect the payment by the United\nStates or any department, independent establishment, or agency thereof\nof any sanitary sewer services furnished by the sanitary sewage works\nof the District through any connection thereto for direct use by the\ngovernment of the United States or any department, independent\nestablishment, or agency thereof. The rules for those payments are set\nforth in law codified at section 34-2112 of the D.C. Code and nothing\nin this Act amends or otherwise affects those rules. This bill requires\nthat Congress make available, in appropriations acts, the funds that\ncould be used for to pay stormwater management charges, but not that\nthe appropriations act would need to state specifically or expressly\nthat the funds could be used to pay these charges.\n\n[[Page E2246]]\n\n  This bill is supported by the National Governors Association, the\nNational Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State\nGovernments, the National Association of Counties, the National League\nof Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the International City/County\nManagement Associations, as well as the National Association of Clean\nWater Agencies. All of these national groups understand that stormwater\nmanagement fees, without any exceptions, are necessary for managing and\nreducing water pollution caused by stormwater runoff. Moreover, they\nunderstand that many agencies in States and localities may stop paying\ntheir water and stormwater management fees if we do not act, putting\neven more financial burden on residents.\n  Federal law has mandated that these local governments must collect\nthese fees. No exemption has been granted to Federal facilities. Please\nsupport S. 3481 to clarify the original intent of the law.\n  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2010-12-22-pt1-PgE2245-5"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3931801076978445, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}