42 U.S.C. § 300h–6 — Sole source aquifer demonstration program

(a) Purpose. This section sets up procedures to develop, run, and evaluate demonstration programs that protect "critical aquifer protection areas" inside areas already designated as sole or principal source aquifers under section 300h–3(e). (b) "Critical aquifer protection area" — defined. This means either: (1) all or part of an area inside a sole-or-principal-source-aquifer area that EPA has approved and that meets the criteria set under subsection (d); or (2) all or part of an area within a sole source aquifer designated as of June 19, 1986, that already has an area-wide ground water quality protection plan approved under section 208 of the Clean Water Act before June 19, 1986. (c) Application. A state, municipal or local government, or planning entity (including an interstate regional one) with authority over a critical aquifer protection area may apply to EPA to have that area selected for a demonstration program. The applicant must first consult with other governments or planning entities that also have authority there. Unless the applicant is the Governor, the application must be submitted jointly with the Governor. (d) Criteria. Within 1 year of June 19, 1986, EPA had to set, by rule, the criteria for identifying critical aquifer protection areas, considering: (1) how vulnerable the aquifer is to contamination based on its geology; (2) how many people, or what share of the population, use the groundwater for drinking water; (3) the economic, social, and environmental benefits of keeping the groundwater high-quality; and (4) the economic, social, and environmental costs of letting the groundwater quality decline. (e) Contents of application. An application must: (1) propose boundaries for the critical aquifer protection area; (2) name (or, if needed, create) a public planning entity — including elected local and state officials — to write a comprehensive management plan (the "plan") for the area, using an existing local planning agency if one has enough authority; (3) set up procedures for public participation in writing, reviewing, approving, and adopting the plan, and for helping municipalities and other agencies carry it out; (4) include a study of the area's surface and ground water resources; (5) include the comprehensive management plan itself; and (6) include the steps and schedule proposed to carry out that plan. (f) Comprehensive plan. (1) The plan's goal is to protect groundwater quality in a way that reasonably protects human health, the environment, and groundwater resources — as much as possible by keeping natural vegetation and hydrogeological conditions intact. Every plan must include: (A) a map with the area's detailed boundary; (B) an identification of existing and potential sources of groundwater pollution (both point and nonpoint sources); (C) an assessment of how activities on the land surface affect groundwater quality; and (D) specific actions and management practices to prevent harm to groundwater quality, plus (E) an identification of who has authority to carry out the plan, cost estimates, and sources of state matching funds. (2) The plan may also include: (A) an assessment of current recharge water quality and the watershed's natural recharge ability; (B) requirements to maintain or improve drinking water quality to meet standards under this chapter and state law; (C) limits on federally, state-, or locally funded activities that could degrade the groundwater or reduce natural infiltration; (D) a full land-use management statement, including emergency contingency planning; (E) actions to avoid harming water quality or recharge capacity; (F) specific tools such as clustering development, transferring development rights, or other innovative measures; (G) a possible state institution to help fund a development-transfer-credit system; (H) a program for consistent state and local implementation of the plan; and (I) pollution abatement measures, if appropriate. (g) Plans under Clean Water Act section 208. A plan approved before June 19, 1986, under Clean Water Act section 208 to protect a sole source aquifer designated under section 300h–3(e) counts as a comprehensive management plan for this section. (h) Consultation and hearings. While writing the plan, the planning entity must consult with, and consider comments from, officials of any municipality or state or federal agency with jurisdiction over land or water in the area, plus other concerned organizations and advisory committees. The planning entity must hold public hearings in the protection area so people can comment on any part of the plan. (i) Approval or disapproval. Within 120 days of receiving an application, the Administrator must approve or disapprove it, based on whether the area meets the subsection (d) criteria and whether the demonstration program would protect groundwater quality consistent with subsection (f)'s goals. The Administrator must give the Governor a written explanation if disapproving. A rejected applicant may revise and resubmit. Once approved, the Administrator may enter a cooperative agreement with the applicant to run the demonstration program. (j) Grants and reimbursement. After a cooperative agreement is signed, the Administrator may give the applicant a matching grant covering 50 percent of the cost of carrying out the plan, and may also reimburse up to 50 percent of the cost of developing the plan (except for plans already approved under Clean Water Act section 208). Total grants for any one aquifer designated under section 300h–3(e) cannot exceed $4,000,000 in any one fiscal year. (k) No double funding. Money authorized under this section cannot fund activities already funded under other parts of this chapter, the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), or other environmental laws. (l) Savings provision. Nothing in this section changes any water rights already established by interstate water compacts, Supreme Court decrees, or state water law, or any requirement or right under federal or state environmental or public health law. (m) Authorization of appropriations. Congress may spend, at most: $10,000,000 in FY1987; $15,000,000 in FY1988; $17,500,000 each year FY1989–1991; and $15,000,000 each year FY1992–2003. Matching grants under this section can also help update a water quality management plan for a sole or principal source aquifer that was approved (before June 19, 1986) under section 208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.