Findings; purposes

(a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) the Tijuana River flows across the United States-Mexico border, through the southern United States, and into the Pacific Ocean; (2) 3/4 of the 1,750 square mile watershed of the Tijuana River lies in Mexico, and the remaining 1/4 includes the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve in the United States; (3) the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve is a partnership of Federal and State agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California State Parks, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; (4) the Tijuana River is a significant estuary and watershed, providing— (A) economic and health benefits to the citizens of the United States and Mexico; and (B) environmental benefits as critical habitat to shore birds; (5) the economy of communities in southern California, including smaller communities, such as the City of Imperial Beach, and larger municipalities, such as the City of San Diego, may be significantly affected— (A) if the natural beauty and recreational opportunities of the Tijuana River are degraded; and (B) due to public health and environmental impacts; (6) the Tijuana River watershed is in the midst of an environmental crisis, as stormwater flows from the upper watershed, originating in Tijuana, Mexico, carrying pollutants such as bacteria, trash, and sediment that severely affect water quality; (7) coastal communities in and near the Tijuana River watershed are also affected, during certain tidal events, by a combination of treated wastewater and chlorinated-only wastewater discharged from the San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant located 5 miles south of the United States-Mexico border in Tijuana; (8) as reported by the Government Accountability Office in February 2020, transboundary flows of untreated sewage, combined with unmanaged stormwater, bring bacteria and other contaminants into the Tijuana River Valley watershed and beaches in the United States; (9) sediment flows into the Tijuana River National Wildlife Refuge and blocks the flow of ocean water and creates an imbalance in water salinity, necessary for marsh plants, fish, and birds; (10) before the date of enactment of this Act, the City of Imperial Beach has experienced more than 1,000 consecutive days of beach closures due to the ongoing influx of sewage, industrial discharges, and trash from the Tijuana River due to risk to human health; (11) flows of untreated sewage, chemicals, and pollution from Mexico jeopardize the health of Border Patrol agents and limit the ability of those agents to operate in areas affected by these flows; (12) a March 2020 report of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency— (A) found that— (i) stormwater knows no jurisdictional boundaries … and is a principal cause of water quality issues nationwide; and (ii) adequate funding to manage stormwater pollution lags behind the investments made in wastewater management and the delivery of safe drinking water by decades; and (B) concluded that Federal investment will be required to address— (i) the lack of State and local funding; and (ii) multi-jurisdictional stormwater management needs; (13) during the 10-year period before the date of enactment of this Act, Federal, State, and local governments and others have identified the benefits of using natural and green infrastructure to control and manage stormwater runoff, including wetlands, coastal dunes, and retention structures; (14) during the 20-year period before the date of enactment of this Act, the United States and Mexico, through the International Boundary and Water Commission, have agreed to resolve the pollution problems in the Tijuana River; (15) the International Boundary and Water Commission has negotiated 9 Minutes to resolve water quality problems in the Tijuana River, among other subjects; (16) 1 of the most recent Minutes authorized the construction of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Ysidro to treat, on average, 25,000,000 gallons of sewage from Tijuana per day, which has reduced the sewage coming into the United States; (17) the sewer system of Tijuana is— (A) aging and deteriorating; and (B) insufficient to meet the needs of a quickly growing population; (18) in August 2023, Tropical Storm Hilary— (A) caused more than 2,000,000,000 gallons of contaminated water to flow across the border; and (B) exacerbated vulnerabilities at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant; (19) on January 22, 2024, a record-breaking storm caused the Tijuana River to reach the highest flow ever recorded for that river at 14,500,000 gallons per day; (20) from January to December of 2024, an estimated 36,154,000,000 gallons of wastewater, treated water, and stormwater flowed from Mexico to the United States; (21) on June 17, 2024, a pump station failure resulted in approximately 302,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilling onto the public right-of-way; (22) during the 2-year period before the date of enactment of this Act, transboundary flows occurred on 317 days, on average, each year; (23) those transboundary flows contain treated wastewater, raw sewage, and urban runoff, with most of those flows associated with wet weather and stormwater; (24) during the 2-year period before the date of enactment of this Act, unprecedented dry weather flows reached approximately 13,795,000,000 gallons; (25) abnormal dry weather flows and sediment have caused pump failures, oppressive odors, and public health concerns; (26) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) has established a stormwater permit program under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, under which municipalities have the responsibility to manage and treat stormwater; (27) because of the international border and different treatment systems and standards, discharges in Mexico to the Tijuana River are not treated to the same standards as the standards to which discharges would be treated in the United States; (28) the International Boundary and Water Commission negotiated Minute 320 to find solutions for water quality, trash, and sediment in the Tijuana River; (29) the International Boundary and Water Commission negotiated Minute 328 to implement sanitation infrastructure projects in Tijuana, Baja California, and San Diego, California, that will be financed with a total joint investment of $474,000,000; (30) the United States has invested at least $300,000,000 for secondary wastewater treatment in the Tijuana River Valley by the International Boundary and Water Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and Minute 328; (31) the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Boundary and Water Commission selected Alternative 2, as described in the final programmatic environmental impact statement of the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Boundary and Water Commission entitled USMCA Mitigation of Contaminated Transboundary Flows Project and dated November 2, 2022, and selected in the record of decision of the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Boundary and Water Commission entitled Joint Record of Decision for the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Mitigation of Contaminated Transboundary Flows Project and signed on June 9, 2023; (32) the United States has also helped fund water and wastewater infrastructure along the border through the Border Water Infrastructure Program and the North American Development Bank; and (33) however, as the Government Accountability Office found in the report described in paragraph (8)— (A) the longstanding environmental and health problems associated with transboundary stormwater flows continue; and (B) while the International Boundary and Water Commission has taken the first steps to conduct long-term capital planning to resolve existing problems by proposing and analyzing alternatives, analyzing costs, identifying solutions, or establishing time frames, significant additional investment from the resources of Federal, State, Tribal, local, and Mexican entities is needed to improve the water quality of the Tijuana River watershed. (b) Purposes The purposes of this title are— (1) to establish a Geographic Program to plan and implement water quality restoration and protection activities; (2) to ensure the coordination of restoration and protection activities among Mexican, Federal, State, local, and regional entities and conservation partners relating to water quality and stormwater management in the Mexican Tijuana River watershed and the American Tijuana River watershed; and (3) to provide funding for water quality restoration and protection activities in the Mexican Tijuana River watershed and the American Tijuana River watershed.