Regulatory Certainty for Navigable Waters Act
This bill describes which bodies of water fall under federal jurisdiction and the scope of the Clean Water Act. Specifically, the bill: (1) repeals the Environmental Protection Agency's 2015 Clean Water Rule (commonly known as the Waters of the United States or WOTUS rule), (2) defines navigable waters, and (3) establishes a process for reviewing determinations that water bodies are navigable waters.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7194 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7194
To repeal the Waters of the United States rule and amend the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act definition of navigable waters, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 29, 2018
Ms. Herrera Beutler (for herself and Mr. Gibbs) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To repeal the Waters of the United States rule and amend the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act definition of navigable waters, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Regulatory Certainty for Navigable
Waters Act''.
SEC. 2. WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND NAVIGABLE WATERS.
(a) Wotus Repeal.--The final rule issued by the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Army
entitled ``Clean Water Rule: Definition of `Waters of the United
States''' (80 Fed. Reg. 37053 (June 29, 2015)) is repealed.
(b) Navigable Waters Definition.--Section 502 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by striking paragraph
(7) and inserting the following:
``(7) Navigable waters.--
``(A) In general.--The term `navigable waters'
means--
``(i) the territorial seas;
``(ii) interstate waters which are
presently used, or are susceptible to use in
their natural and ordinary condition, as a
means to transport interstate or foreign
commerce;
``(iii) relatively permanent, standing, or
continuously flowing bodies of water that form
geographical features commonly known as
streams, rivers, or lakes, that flow directly
into waters described in clause (ii); or
``(iv) wetlands that have a continuous
surface water connection to waters described in
clause (ii) or (iii).
``(B) Exclusions.--The term `navigable waters'
shall be limited to the waters described in
subparagraph (A) and does not include--
``(i) intermittent or ephemeral waters;
``(ii) subsurface waters, including ground
water or underground streams;
``(iii) any water that by itself does not
meet the definition in subparagraph (A);
``(iv) an intrastate water, unless meeting
the requirements of subparagraph (A);
``(v) a man-made channel or ditch,
including irrigation, distribution, and
drainage systems;
``(vi) a water that does not meet the
definition in subparagraph (A), including a
water that in the past could have been a water
that meets the definition in subparagraph (A)
or a water that in the future could be a water
that meets the definition in subparagraph (A);
``(vii) a water that requires the use of
means beyond visual inspection by the naked
eye, including aerial photographs, satellite
imaging, or hydrological testing, to determine
if it meets the definition in subparagraph (A);
``(viii) prior converted cropland; or
``(ix) waste treatment systems, including
systems created in or with impounded waters
described in subparagraph (A) and all features
and components of any system designed to
actively or passively retain or reduce or
remove pollutants from wastewater or
stormwater, including those that convey the
pollutants into and out of the system.
``(C) Continuous surface water connection.--For
purposes of this paragraph, a continuous surface water
connection is a connection with respect to which an
ordinary person would not be able to visually determine
by the naked eye, by looking at the water surface,
where one body of water ends and the other begins.
``(D) Relatively permanent, standing, or
continuously flowing.--For purposes of this paragraph,
a water is relatively permanent, standing, or
continuously flowing if it has continuous flow for at
least 290 days of the year, except in cases of extreme
events, such as a drought.
``(E) Wetlands.--For purposes of this paragraph,
wetlands--
``(i) are areas that are inundated or
saturated by surface or ground water at a
frequency and duration sufficient to support,
and that under normal circumstances do support,
a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted
for life in saturated soil conditions; and
``(ii) include swamps, marshes, bogs, and
similar areas.
``(F) Prior converted cropland.--For purposes of
this paragraph, the term `prior converted cropland'--
``(i) means areas that, prior to December
23, 1985, were drained or otherwise manipulated
for the purpose, or having the effect, of
making an agricultural product possible, and
that are inundated for no more than 14
consecutive days during the growing season; and
``(ii) includes agricultural drainage
features, including ditches and conveyances,
that are the means by which the original
conversion from wetlands to cropland took place
and that are integral to the continued
production of agricultural products by
providing drainage or irrigation to maintain
productive growing conditions.
``(G) Jurisdictional determination.--The Secretary
of the Army, at his cost, shall provide a binding
determination upon the request of a permit applicant,
landowner, or other affected person with an
identifiable and substantial legal interest in a
property, to determine whether a water is a navigable
water under clause (iv) of subparagraph (A). The review
process shall not exceed 60 days, beginning on the date
of receipt of a written request from the affected
person. If no determination has been made within the 60
day review period, the water shall not be considered a
navigable water. A determination that a water is not a
navigable water, or a failure to provide a
determination, shall be binding on both the Secretary
and the Administrator for as long as the person has an
identifiable and substantial legal interest in the
property. If a determination is made that a water is a
navigable water, the determination shall be binding for
a period of no longer than 5 years. The affected person
may obtain expedited judicial review not later than 30
days after the date on which the determination is made
in a district court of the United States, of
appropriate jurisdiction and venue, which is located
within the State of the affected person seeking the
review.''.
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Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
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