33 U.S.C. § 1318

Records and reports; inspections

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(a) Maintenance; monitoring equipment; entry; access to informationWhenever required to carry out the objective of this chapter, including but not limited to (1) developing or assisting in the development of any effluent limitation, or other limitation, prohibition, or effluent standard, pretreatment standard, or standard of performance under this chapter; (2) determining whether any person is in violation of any such effluent limitation, or other limitation, prohibition or effluent standard, pretreatment standard, or standard of performance; (3) any requirement established under this section; or (4) carrying out sections 1315, 1321, 1342, 1344 (relating to State permit programs), 1345, and 1364 of this title—(A) the Administrator shall require the owner or operator of any point source to (i) establish and maintain such records, (ii) make such reports, (iii) install, use, and maintain such monitoring equipment or methods (including where appropriate, biological monitoring methods), (iv) sample such effluents (in accordance with such methods, at such locations, at such intervals, and in such manner as the Administrator shall prescribe), and (v) provide such other information as he may reasonably require; and(B) the Administrator or his authorized representative (including an authorized contractor acting as a representative of the Administrator), upon presentation of his credentials—(i) shall have a right of entry to, upon, or through any premises in which an effluent source is located or in which any records required to be maintained under clause (A) of this subsection are located, and(ii) may at reasonable times have access to and copy any records, inspect any monitoring equipment or method required under clause (A), and sample any effluents which the owner or operator of such source is required to sample under such clause.(b) Availability to public; trade secrets exception; penalty for disclosure of confidential information

Any records, reports, or information obtained under this section (1) shall, in the case of effluent data, be related to any applicable effluent limitations, toxic, pretreatment, or new source performance standards, and (2) shall be available to the public, except that upon a showing satisfactory to the Administrator by any person that records, reports, or information, or particular part thereof (other than effluent data), to which the Administrator has access under this section, if made public would divulge methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets of such person, the Administrator shall consider such record, report, or information, or particular portion thereof confidential in accordance with the purposes of section 1905 of title 18. Any authorized representative of the Administrator (including an authorized contractor acting as a representative of the Administrator) who knowingly or willfully publishes, divulges, discloses, or makes known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by law any information which is required to be considered confidential under this subsection shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the Administrator or an authorized representative of the Administrator (including any authorized contractor acting as a representative of the Administrator) from disclosing records, reports, or information to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of the United States concerned with carrying out this chapter or when relevant in any proceeding under this chapter.

Each State may develop and submit to the Administrator procedures under State law for inspection, monitoring, and entry with respect to point sources located in such State. If the Administrator finds that the procedures and the law of any State relating to inspection, monitoring, and entry are applicable to at least the same extent as those required by this section, such State is authorized to apply and enforce its procedures for inspection, monitoring, and entry with respect to point sources located in such State (except with respect to point sources owned or operated by the United States).

(d) Access by Congress

Notwithstanding any limitation contained in this section or any other provision of law, all information reported to or otherwise obtained by the Administrator (or any representative of the Administrator) under this chapter shall be made available, upon written request of any duly authorized committee of Congress, to such committee.

(June 30, 1948, ch. 758, title III, § 308, as added Pub. L. 92–500, § 2, Oct. 18, 1972, 86 Stat. 858; amended Pub. L. 95–217, § 67(c)(1), Dec. 27, 1977, 91 Stat. 1606; Pub. L. 100–4, title III, § 310, title IV, § 406(d)(1), Feb. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 41, 73.)Editorial NotesAmendments

1987—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–4, § 406(d)(1), substituted “1345, and 1364” for “and 1364” in cl. (4).

Subsec. (a)(B). Pub. L. 100–4, § 310(a)(2), inserted “(including an authorized contractor acting as a representative of the Administrator)” after “representative”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–4, § 310(a)(1), substituted a period and “Any authorized representative of the Administrator (including an authorized contractor acting as a representative of the Administrator) who knowingly or willfully publishes, divulges, discloses, or makes known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by law any information which is required to be considered confidential under this subsection shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the Administrator or an authorized representative of the Administrator (including any authorized contractor acting as a representative of the Administrator) from disclosing records, reports, or information to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of the United States concerned with carrying out this chapter or when relevant in any proceeding under this chapter.” for “, except that such record, report, or information may be disclosed to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of the United States concerned with carrying out this chapter or when relevant in any proceeding under this chapter.”

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 100–4, § 310(b), added subsec. (d).

1977—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 95–217 inserted “1344 (relating to State permit programs),” after “sections 1315, 1321, 1342,” in provisions preceding subpar. (A).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 126 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1974–2024 · leading case: Sierra Club v. Simkins Indus., Inc., 847 F.2d 1109 (4th Cir. 1988).

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Sierra Club v. Simkins Indus., Inc., 847 F.2d 1109 (4th Cir. 1988). · cites it 6× “It also authorizes the EPA Administrator or his or her authorized representatives a right of entry to an effluent source location or to premises where required records or monitoring equipment are kept, § 1318(a)(4)(B).”

Upstate Forever v. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., 887 F.3d 637 (4th Cir. 2018). · cites it 2× “In addition to listing the effluent limitations and water quality standards, NPDES permits also require “compliance with the inspection, reporting and monitoring requirements of the [CWA] as outlined in 33 U.”

Env't Integrity Proj. v. McCarthy, 139 F. Supp. 3d 25 (D.D.C. 2015). · cites it 6× “33 U.S.C. § 1318 (a). Specifically, Section 308 instructs the EPA, when “required to carry out the objectives of’ the CWA, to “require the owner or operator of any point source to (i) establish and maintain such records, (ii) make such reports, (in) install, use, and maintain…”

Maryland Dep't of Env't v. Anacostia Riverkeeper, 134 A.3d 892 (Md. 2016). · cites it 2× “33 U.S.C. § 1318 (a); Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc.”

Am. Canoe Ass'n, Inc. Sierra Club v. City of Louisa Water & Sewer Comm'n Louisa Water Treatment Plant City of Louisa, Kentucky, 389 F.3d 536 (6th Cir. 2004). · cites it 2× “See 33 U.S.C. § 1318 (a) (noting that monitoring and reporting requirements may be imposed when necessary to fulfill the objectives of the Act).”

United States v. Stauffer Chem. Co., 684 F.2d 1174 (6th Cir. 1982). · cites it 3× “Section 308(a) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1318 (a)(B), is copied virtually word-for-word from section 114(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act.”

Chesapeake Bay Found. v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 608 F. Supp. 440 (D. Maryland 1985). · cites it 3× “§ 1318 , the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency must require that permit holders install monitoring equipment, that they sample and monitor effluent, and that they keep records of the results and report such results as required. These reports, called Discharge…”

Martha M. Menzel Mary B. Rice, & Barbara G. Racine & Virginia W. Grubbs v. Cnty. Utils. Corp., 712 F.2d 91 (4th Cir. 1983). · cites it 4× “State-issued NPDES permits must mandate, inter alia, compliance with the inspection, reporting, and monitoring requirements of the Act as outlined in 33 U.S.C. § 1318 . See 33 U.S.C. § 1342 (b)(2).”

Hawaii's Thousand Friends v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 821 F. Supp. 1368 (D. Haw. 1993). · cites it 3× “All permits issued by the state must also comply with Section 308 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1318 , which requires NPDES permittees to establish and maintain records; install, use and maintain monitoring equipment; sample effluent; and report on a regular basis to DOH and EPA…”

Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Se. Alaska Conservation Council, 557 U.S. 261 (2009). “§ 1317 ; CWA §308, 33 U. S. C. § 1318 ; CWA § 403, 33 U. S. C.”

In Re Alameda Cnty. Assessor's Parcel Nos. 537-801-2-4 & 537-850-9, 672 F. Supp. 1278 (N.D. Cal. 1987). · cites it 7× “33 U.S.C. § 1318 . Under § 308, the EPA has “a right of entry to, upon, or through any premises in which an effluent source is located .”

Ecological Rights Found. Mateel Env't Just. Found. v. Pac. Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. 2000). “§ 1365 (f)(6) (citizen suit may allege violation of permit or condition thereof); 33 U.S.C. § 1318 (outlining procedural requirements of NPDES permits, including reporting, monitoring, and record-keeping).”

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