§ 1270 — Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program

(1) There is established a Lake Champlain Management Conference to develop a comprehensive pollution prevention, control, and restoration plan for Lake Champlain. The Administrator shall convene the management conference within ninety days of November 16, 1990. (2) The Administrator— (A) may provide support to the State of Vermont, the State of New York, and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission for the implementation of the Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program; and (B) shall coordinate actions of the Environmental Protection Agency under subparagraph (A) with the actions of other appropriate Federal agencies. (b) The Members of the Management Conference shall be comprised of— (1) the Governors of the States of Vermont and New York; (2) each interested Federal agency, not to exceed a total of five members; (3) the Vermont and New York Chairpersons of the Vermont, New York, Quebec Citizens Advisory Committee for the Environmental Management of Lake Champlain; (4) four representatives of the State legislature of Vermont; (5) four representatives of the State legislature of New York; (6) six persons representing local governments having jurisdiction over any land or water within the Lake Champlain basin, as determined appropriate by the Governors; and (7) eight persons representing affected industries, nongovernmental organizations, public and private educational institutions, and the general public, as determined appropriate by the trigovernmental Citizens Advisory Committee for the Environmental Management of Lake Champlain, but not to be current members of the Citizens Advisory Committee. (1) The Management Conference shall, not later than one hundred and twenty days after November 16, 1990, appoint a Technical Advisory Committee. (2) Such Technical Advisory Committee shall consist of officials of: appropriate departments and agencies of the Federal Government; the State governments of New York and Vermont; and governments of political subdivisions of such States; and public and private research institutions. (d) The Management Conference shall establish a multi-disciplinary environmental research program for Lake Champlain. Such research program shall be planned and conducted jointly with the Lake Champlain Research Consortium. (1) Not later than three years after November 16, 1990, the Management Conference shall publish a pollution prevention, control, and restoration plan for Lake Champlain. (2) The Plan developed pursuant to this section shall— (A) identify corrective actions and compliance schedules addressing point and nonpoint sources of pollution necessary to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of water quality, a balanced, indigenous population of shellfish, fish and wildlife, recreational, and economic activities in and on the lake; (B) incorporate environmental management concepts and programs established in State and Federal plans and programs in effect at the time of the development of such plan; (C) clarify the duties of Federal and State agencies in pollution prevention and control activities, and to the extent allowable by law, suggest a timetable for adoption by the appropriate Federal and State agencies to accomplish such duties within a reasonable period of time; (D) describe the methods and schedules for funding of programs, activities, and projects identified in the Plan, including the use of Federal funds and other sources of funds; (E) include a strategy for pollution prevention and control that includes the promotion of pollution prevention and management practices to reduce the amount of pollution generated in the Lake Champlain basin; and (F) be reviewed and revised, as necessary, at least once every 5 years, in consultation with the Administrator and other appropriate Federal agencies. (3) The Administrator, in cooperation with the Management Conference, shall provide for public review and comment on the draft Plan. At a minimum, the Management Conference shall conduct one public meeting to hear comments on the draft plan in the State of New York and one such meeting in the State of Vermont. (4) Not less than one hundred and twenty days after the publication of the Plan required pursuant to this section, the Administrator shall approve such plan if the plan meets the requirements of this section and the Governors of the States of New York and Vermont concur. (5) Upon approval of the plan, such plan shall be deemed to be an approved management program for the purposes of section 1329(h) of this title and such plan shall be deemed to be an approved comprehensive conservation and management plan pursuant to section 1330 of this title. (1) The Administrator may, in consultation with participants in the Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program, make grants to State, interstate, and regional water pollution control agencies, and public or nonprofit agencies, institutions, and organizations. (2) Grants under this subsection shall be made for assisting research, surveys, studies, and modeling and technical and supporting work necessary for the development and implementation of the Plan. (3) The amount of grants to any person under this subsection for a fiscal year shall not exceed 75 per centum of the costs of such research, survey, study and work and shall be made available on the condition that non-Federal share of such costs are provided from non-Federal sources. (4) The Administrator may establish such requirements for the administration of grants as he determines to be appropriate. (g) In this section: (1) The term “Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program” means the coordinated efforts among the Federal Government, State governments, and local governments to implement the Plan. (2) The term “Lake Champlain drainage basin” means all or part of Clinton, Franklin, Hamilton, Warren, Essex, and Washington counties in the State of New York and all or part of Franklin, Grand Isle, Chittenden, Addison, Rutland, Bennington, Lamoille, Orange, Washington, Orleans, and Caledonia counties in Vermont, that contain all of the streams, rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water, including wetlands, that drain into Lake Champlain. (3) The term “Plan” means the plan developed under subsection (e). (h) Nothing in this section— (1) affects the jurisdiction or powers of— (A) any department or agency of the Federal Government or any State government; or (B) any international organization or entity related to Lake Champlain created by treaty or memorandum to which the United States is a signatory; (2) provides new regulatory authority for the Environmental Protection Agency; or (3) affects section 304 of the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–596; 33 U.S.C. 1270 note). (i) There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this section $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027, to remain available until expended.