A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to allow modifications of certain effluent limitations relating to biochemical oxygen demand and pH.
Public Law 97-440 · H.R. 7159 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jan 8, 1983 · Environmental Protection
Sponsor: Rep. Donald Clausen (R-CA-2)
Cosponsors (3): Rep. James Howard, Rep. Robert Roe,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, with State concurrence, to issue a permit which would modify specified effluent limitation requirements (dealing with biochemical oxygen demand and pH) for an industrial discharger, in such State, who makes discharges into deep waters of the territorial seas.
Requires the applicant for a modified permit to make specified demonstrations, including a showing that: (1) the facility for which modification is sought is covered at the time of enactment of this Act by one of two specified permit numbers under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; (2) the applicant accepts as a condition of the permit an obligation to use a required amount of funds for research and development of water pollution control technology, including closed cycle technology; (3) the relief granted will not establish a precedent or the relaxation of requirements applicable to similarly situated discharges; and (4) no owner or operator of a comparable facility has demonstrated that it would be put at a competitive disadvantage to the applicant or the applicant's parent company or subsidiaries as a result of the issuance of such a modified permit.
Sets forth requirements for such modified effluent limitations.
Limits a modified permit to a five-year period, with additional five-year renewals upon a showing by the applicant that the requirements of this Act are met.
Authorizes the Administrator to terminate such modified permit upon finding that there has been a decline in the ambient water quality of receiving waters during the period of the permit, even if a direct cause and effect relationship cannot be shown.
Directs the Administrator to terminate any such modified permit if the effluent from the source is contributing to a decline in ambient water quality of the receiving waters.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Jan 8, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-440.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jan 3, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Dec 20, 1982Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Senate Amendments.
- Dec 19, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
- Dec 16, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Dec 14, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Sep 29, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Sep 23, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Sep 22, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.