WATCH: Padilla announces bicameral legislation to coordinate Tijuana River restoration efforts

September 6, 2024 - SAN DIEGO, CA — On Thursday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, and Representatives Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50) announced bicameral efforts to help combat the ongoing Tijuana River transboundary sewage pollution crisis. The lawmakers were joined by officials from the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) to announce the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act of 2024. Senator Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) is an original cosponsor of the bill in the Senate, and Representative Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25) is an original cosponsor in the House of Representatives.

The legislation would designate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the lead agency to coordinate all federal, state, Tribal, and local agencies to build and maintain critical infrastructure projects to address long-standing, systemic water infrastructure and pollution issues in the Tijuana River and New River watershed. The bill would also create a new Geographic Program within EPA to manage the watershed through a comprehensive water quality management plan. These provisions and other key components of the bill follow the findings and recommendations of the Government Accountability Office’s February 2020 Report, “International Boundary and Water Commission: Opportunities Exist to Address Water Quality Problems.” 

“It should be an outrage to all of us that in 2024, raw sewage and toxic waste is shutting down public beaches, polluting the air, and threatening the health of our families and readiness of our military and border personnel,” said Senator Padilla. “By assigning the Environmental Protection Agency with the clear role of coordinating with federal, state, local, and Tribal leaders to maintain the health of the watershed, we’re bringing the full weight and commitment of the federal government to address the Tijuana River pollution crisis.”

“For too many years, the San Diego and border communities have been burdened by highly toxic waste and sewage,” said Senator Butler. “Although there is more work to be done, this legislation is a critical step towards reducing pollution and providing cleaner air and water in the Tijuana River Valley.”

“From terrible smells to closed beaches, toxic sewage pollution hurts our communities every single day. It’s important that we have a streamlined and effective federal response. But right now, there is no one agency in charge of addressing the pollution. There are too many cooks in the kitchen,” said Representative Vargas. “That’s why I’m glad to introduce the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act alongside Senator Alex Padilla. This legislation would put the EPA in charge of coordinating with federal, state, and local agencies to respond to the sewage pollution, streamlining decision-making and strategic planning between agencies. We’re committed to working to combat this pollution and this bill is an important step towards that goal.”

“This is an environmental crisis, a public health crisis, and an economic crisis for San Diegans. The federal government should treat it as such,” said Representative Peters. “The legislation introduced today institutes a whole-of-government approach for resolving this crisis. This is the same type of program you see in the San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay, and Great Lakes; San Diego is no less deserving.”

“The Border Quality Restoration Act is a vital first step toward addressing cross-border pollution in underserved communities,” said Representative Ruiz. “Cleaning up the New River will greatly improve the lives of residents in the Imperial Valley by protecting public health and ensuring cleaner water. These federal resources will help preserve our environment and restore one of the nation’s most polluted rivers.”

In just the last five years, more than 100 billion gallons of toxic sewage, trash, and unmanaged stormwater have flowed across the United States-Mexico border into the Tijuana River Valley and neighboring communities, forcing long-lasting beach closures and creating significant negative impacts on water quality, public health, and the environment. Last year, sewage flowed across the border at the highest volume in a quarter century, exceeding 44 billion gallons. Earlier this week, the California legislature unanimously passed a resolution urging federal action to confront the Tijuana River sewage crisis, which has now closed local beaches for more than 1,000 days in a row.

The Tijuana River pollution crisis has disproportionately harmed underserved communities along San Diego’s southern border for decades. U.S. military personnel, border patrol agents, and the local environment and economy have also suffered harmful impacts from waterborne and airborne transboundary sewage flows.

To address these long-standing issues, the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act of 2024 would:

• Direct EPA, in coordination with relevant federal, state, Tribal, and local governments, to implement a comprehensive water quality management program for the Tijuana River and New River watersheds within 180 days;

• Require EPA and its partners to identify a consensus list of priority projects, including incorporating a comprehensive suite of projects identified by EPA and IBWC in the 2022 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementation plan, as well as the construction and operations and maintenance costs associated with them;

• Provide transfer authority to EPA to accept and distribute funds to federal, state, Tribal, and local partners to construct, operate, and maintain the identified priority projects;

• Provide technical assistance for restoration and protection activities to federal, state, Tribal, and local stakeholders;

• Codify the U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP) to fund water infrastructure projects that benefit U.S. communities;

• Require the IBWC Commissioner to participate in the construction of projects identified in the Tijuana and New River comprehensive plans; and

• Authorize the IBWC to address stormwater quality and accept funding made available by the bill.

EPA currently administers 12 Geographic Programs that help protect local ecosystems through water quality improvement, ecosystem and habitat restoration, environmental education, and local capacity building. Establishing such a program for the Tijuana River and New River is important for the long-term improvement and monitoring of the watersheds during and after the expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP).

Senator Padilla has prioritized addressing the Tijuana River pollution crisis since he first came to the Senate, securing over $103 million in additional funding for the IBWC in the bipartisan FY 2024 appropriations package earlier this year. The Senate Appropriations Committee also recently advanced FY25 appropriations legislation that includes another $159 million for IBWC construction that Padilla requested to continue funding projects to address Tijuana River pollution. He successfully secured language in the FY 2023 appropriations package to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to deliver $300 million previously secured in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to the IBWC for water infrastructure projects.

Senator Padilla previously visited the IBWC facility and the Tijuana River Valley in June 2023. Additionally, he wrote to the IBWC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers earlier this year to request an update on how the agencies plan to work together to address the ongoing Tijuana River transboundary sewage pollution crisis and repair the SBIWTP. Padilla also recently secured $10 million in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 for the Tijuana River Valley Watershed to help address the ongoing transboundary sewage crisis through stormwater conveyance, environmental and ecosystem restoration, and water quality protection projects.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla