House Republicans Pass Act to Update Water Permit Rules and Enhance Transparency

House Republicans passed the "Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act" to update and tighten the rules on water quality permits by making the permit process clearer, making challenging permit decisions in court easier, and ensuring stricter water quality guidelines and transparency.

This is about a bill called the "Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act". Its main goal is to make rules about keeping our water clean clearer and more predictable.

  1. It requires that any new or revised rules about water quality must be officially made through a specific process, ensuring everyone knows about them.
  2. If someone is doing something that might affect water quality, they might be allowed to follow general rules instead of getting a special permit, but they have to tell the agency ahead of time. Also, if these general rules are going to expire, the agency has to let people know two years before.
  3. The bill also says that if you follow all the terms of your water permit, you are considered to be following the law, even for pollutants not specifically listed in the permit but are known to be part of your discharge.
  4. Before adding any new water quality limits to a permit, these limits must specifically name the pollutant and either put a clear numerical limit on it or specify the water condition that needs to be met.
  5. The bill limits when the government can say you can't use a certain area for disposing of waste, starting when you apply for a permit until the permit is either given or denied.
  6. Nationwide permits for building things (like pipelines) that don’t damage more than half an acre of water in the U.S. for each project are to be kept in place. Also, when deciding whether to allow certain activities, the government now only needs to look at the direct water pollution it would cause, not other environmental impacts.
  7. For actions like giving out or refusing permits, people have only 60 days after the decision to ask a court to review it. But, they can only do this if they had already commented on the issue during the permit process.
  8. Lastly, the bill sets rules for how long a court can take to order changes to a permit if it finds something wrong, with a maximum of 180 days to fix the issue.

Overall, this bill tries to make water permitting clearer, give people more predictability, and ensure water quality without unnecessary delays or confusion.

418 votes
Yea213
Nay205
Not Voting14
Mar 21, 2024, 05:09 PM (Washington D.C.)
0
  1. Rule H. Res. 1085 passed House.
  2. Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1085 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 1023, H.R. 1121, H.R. 6009, H. Con. Res. 86, H. Res. 98and H.R. 7023. The resolution provides for consideration H.R. 1023, H.R. 1121, H.R. 6009, H. Con. Res. 86, and H. Res. 987 under a closed rule, and H.R. 7023 under a structured rule, each with one hour of general debate. The rule provides for one motion to recommit each on H.R. 1023, H.R. 1121, H.R. 6009, and H.R. 7023.
  3. Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. H. Rept. 118-375.

  4. Reported in House

    Changes in the current document compared to the previous one are as follows:

    1. The short title of the Act changed from "Nationwide Permitting Improvement Act" to "Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act".
    2. A new section on water quality criteria development and transparency adds requirements for how new or revised water quality criteria should be issued and allows for judicial review of such criteria.
    3. A section on federal general permits has been added, outlining how the Administrator can issue general permits for similar types of discharges and requires a notice period for the expiration of these permits.
    4. Another addition is a section on confidence in clean water permits, which clarifies compliance with permit conditions and how water quality-based effluent limitations are expressed in permits.
    5. The section on reducing permitting uncertainty has been revised to specify the time frame in which the Administrator can prohibit or restrict disposal sites, tying it to the permit application and issuance process.
    6. The section on nationwide permitting has been expanded to include more details about environmental considerations and introduces nationwide permits specifically for linear infrastructure projects. It also explicitly states that no consultations with States or Federal agencies are required for the reissuance of nationwide permits, and environmental assessments are sufficient for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
    7. A new section about judicial review clarifies the timeline for filing actions seeking judicial review of permits and limitations on commencing such actions. It also outlines a remedy if the Secretary or the State did not comply with requirements in issuing permits and sets a timeline for acting on court orders.
    8. The implementation guidance section mandates that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Army begin issuing guidance on the implementation of a new rule regarding "Waters of the United States" within 30 days of the enactment of the Act, including a public comment period.

    These changes introduce more detailed rules and procedures for issuing and complying with water permits, including broader exemptions for certain projects and more explicit guidelines for administrative and judicial review processes.

  5. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 306.
  6. Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
  7. Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  8. Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Discharged
  9. Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
  10. Introduced in House

    This bill changes the rules about how and when people can put materials into waters in the U.S., like when building bridges or roads. It is called the "Nationwide Permitting Improvement Act".

    1. Now, the government can approve projects in a general way for the whole country or specific areas, instead of one by one. This is about projects that involve putting dirt, sand, or other materials into waters.
    2. The time a general approval lasts changes from 5 years to 10 years.
    3. When the government decides if a project's okay, they only think about the impact of the materials being added to the waters.
    4. There's a special approval for projects like building wires or pipelines that don't fill in more than half an acre of water area for each part of the project. "Linear infrastructure projects" means building or maintaining things that move electricity, water, or gas from one place to another.
    5. If the government wants to continue these general approvals, they don't have to check with state or other federal environmental laws.
    6. Some specific rules and definitions about what counts as a "single and complete project" for things like roads or pipes can't be changed.

    This means projects can start and finish faster because the government has to do less checking. It also makes some environmental laws less strict for these projects.

  11. Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  12. Introduced in House