§1414b Ocean Dumping of Sewage Sludge and Industrial Waste

Summary

Stops most ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste and sets rules for how any remaining dumping must be handled. On and after the 270th day after November 18, 1988, no one may dump or carry sewage sludge or industrial waste into ocean waters for dumping unless they first get a permit and enter a binding plan with the EPA Administrator and their State (called a compliance agreement or enforcement agreement). After December 31, 1991, dumping or transporting for dumping is illegal for everyone. The EPA cannot give new permits to people who were not already authorized to dump on September 1, 1988. People who continued allowed dumping between late 1988 and 1992 had to pay special fees: $100 per dry ton from the 270th day after November 18, 1988 until January 1, 1990; $150 per dry ton from January 1, 1990 until January 1, 1991; and $200 per dry ton from January 1, 1991 until January 1, 1992. Of these fees, 85% goes into a trust account the person sets up, $15 per dry ton goes to the EPA for agency work, and half of the remaining balance goes into a State Clean Oceans Fund, with the rest going into the State water pollution control revolving fund. The EPA can waive the fees (except the $15 per ton part) for anyone who has a proper compliance agreement, but can put them back if the person fails to follow the agreement. Civil penalties apply if someone with an agreement dumps after the ban: $600 per dry ton for violations in 1992, and higher amounts in later years based on the prior year’s penalty plus increases (10% plus 1% more for each full year since December 31, 1991). Penalties are paid quarterly and are split among a trust account, $15 per ton to the EPA, and State funds as the law describes, with different rules before and after 1995. Requires plans, schedules, and oversight to stop dumping and to build alternative systems. To get or keep a permit, a person and their State must make a plan with the EPA that, if followed in good faith, will end dumping by December 31, 1991 by designing, building, and running an alternative system or interim measures that do not need an ocean-dumping permit. Plans must include a timeline with reasonable deadlines for design, permits, site or equipment buys, construction, testing, and full operation, and must require the person to tell the EPA and the Governor if problems come up. Each State that joins such an agreement must create an interest-bearing Clean Oceans Fund to hold fees and penalties. Each year the State must return to each payer the funds they put in that year (plus interest) for specific uses, and the State must follow EPA rules to keep accounts clear. People who join agreements must set up a trust account and may only spend that money for building or improving non-dumping systems, interim measures, or related treatment and storage work, and those funds can help match federal grants. If the EPA finds someone dumping illegally, it must order them to stop until they make an agreement and get a permit, and may ask the Justice Department to sue for injunctions and penalties. Governors must send yearly progress reports starting September 30, 1989, and the EPA must send annual reports to Congress starting December 31, 1989, until dumping by people in each State ends. The EPA and the Under Secretary of Commerce must monitor key ocean dump sites (including the Apex site and the 106-Mile site), the industrial waste dump site, and nearby areas, using fish and shellfish sampling and satellites among other tools. Definitions in short: "alternative system" means a non-permit method to manage sludge or waste; "Clean Oceans Fund" is the State account described above; "excluded material" names certain dredged material and tuna-cannery waste; "industrial waste" is waste from factories (not excluded material); "interim measure" is a short-term, permit-free method used before an alternative system; "sewage sludge" is waste from a wastewater treatment plant (not excluded material).