Great Lakes Water Protection Act

“(s) Restriction on wastewater releases into the Great Lakes System

“(1) Definitions—In this subsection:

“(A) Bypass—The term bypass means, with respect to a treatment facility that discharges into the Great Lakes System, an intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of the treatment facility.

“(B) Great lakes system—The term Great Lakes System has the meaning given the term in section 118(a)(3).

“(C) Treatment facility—The term treatment facility includes all wastewater treatment units used by a publicly owned treatment works to meet secondary treatment standards or higher, as required to attain water quality standards, under any operating conditions.

“(D) Treatment works—The term treatment works has the meaning given the term in section 212.

“(2) Restriction—A publicly owned treatment works that discharges into the Great Lakes System is prohibited from performing a bypass unless—

“(A)

“(i) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;

“(ii) there is not a feasible alternative to the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime; and

“(iii) the treatment works provides notice of the bypass in accordance with paragraph (4); or

“(B) the bypass—

“(i) does not cause effluent limitations to be exceeded; and

“(ii) is for essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of the treatment facility.

“(3) Limitation—The requirement of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) is not satisfied if—

“(A) adequate back-up equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment to prevent the bypass; and

“(B) the bypass occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventive maintenance.

“(4) Immediate notice requirements

“(A) In general—The Administrator shall work with States having publicly owned treatment works subject to paragraph (2) to create immediate notice requirements in the event of a bypass or a combined sewer overflow that provide for the method, contents, and requirements for public availability of the notice.

“(B) Minimum initial notice requirements—At a minimum, the contents of the immediate notice under subparagraph (A) shall include—

“(i) the exact dates and times of the bypass or combined sewer overflow;

“(ii) the volume of the bypass or combined sewer overflow; and

“(iii) a description of any public access areas impacted.

“(C) Additional requirements—The Administrator and States described in subparagraph (A) shall—

“(i) ensure that the minimum requirements under subparagraph (B) are consistent for all those States;

“(ii) establish follow-up notice requirements that provide a full description of each event (including water quality data), the cause, and plans to prevent reoccurrence; and

“(iii) establish requirements for making publicly available, including on the website of the Administrator, a list of each treatment works from which the Administrator or the State received a follow-up notice, along with the information required under clause (ii) for each event that required a follow-up notice.

“(5) Implementation—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall establish procedures to implement this subsection.”