[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5078 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5078
To preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect to waters
of the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2014
Mr. Southerland (for himself, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Rahall, Mrs. Capito, Mr.
Peterson, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Schrader, Mr.
Ribble, Mr. Enyart, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Jolly, and Mr. Lucas) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect to waters
of the United States, 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 ``Waters of the United States
Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. RULES AND GUIDANCE.
(a) Identification of Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary and the Administrator are
prohibited from--
(A) developing, finalizing, adopting, implementing,
applying, administering, or enforcing--
(i) the proposed rule described in the
notice of proposed rule published in the
Federal Register entitled ``Definition of
`Waters of the United States' Under the Clean
Water Act'' (79 Fed. Reg. 22188 (April 21,
2014)); or
(ii) the proposed guidance submitted to the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of
the Office of Management and Budget for
regulatory review under Executive Order 12866,
entitled ``Guidance on Identifying Waters
Protected By the Clean Water Act'' and dated
February 17, 2012 (referred to as ``Clean Water
Protection Guidance'', Regulatory Identifier
Number (RIN) 2040-ZA11, received February 21,
2012); or
(B) using the proposed rule or proposed guidance
described in subparagraph (A), any successor document,
or any substantially similar proposed rule or guidance,
as the basis for any rulemaking or decision regarding
the scope or enforcement of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).
(2) Use of rules and guidance.--The use of the proposed
rule or proposed guidance described in paragraph (1)(A), any
successor document, or any substantially similar proposed rule
or guidance, as the basis for any rulemaking or decision
regarding the scope or enforcement of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act shall be grounds for vacating the final
rule, decision, or enforcement action.
(b) Exemption for Certain Agricultural Conservation Practices.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary and the Administrator are
prohibited from developing, finalizing, adopting, implementing,
applying, administering, or enforcing the interpretive rule
described in the notice of availability published in the
Federal Register entitled ``Notice of Availability Regarding
the Exemption from Permitting Under Section 404(f)(1)(A) of the
Clean Water Act to Certain Agricultural Conservation
Practices'' (79 Fed. Reg. 22276 (April 21, 2014)).
(2) Withdrawal.--The Secretary and the Administrator shall
withdraw the interpretive rule described in paragraph (1), and
such interpretive rule shall have no force or effect.
(3) Application.--Section 404(f)(1)(A) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(f)(1)(A)) shall be
applied without regard to the interpretive rule described in
paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. FEDERALISM CONSULTATION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary and the Administrator shall jointly
consult with relevant State and local officials to develop
recommendations for a regulatory proposal that would, consistent with
applicable rulings of the United States Supreme Court, identify--
(1) the scope of waters covered under the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act; and
(2) the scope of waters not covered under such Act.
(b) Consultation Requirements.--In developing the recommendations
under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Administrator shall--
(1) provide relevant State and local officials with notice
and an opportunity to participate in the consultation process
under subsection (a);
(2) seek to consult State and local officials that
represent a broad cross-section of regional, economic, and
geographic perspectives in the United States;
(3) emphasize the importance of collaboration with and
among the relevant State and local officials;
(4) allow for meaningful and timely input by State and
local officials;
(5) be respectful of maintaining the Federal-State
partnership in implementing the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act;
(6) take into consideration the input of State and local
officials regarding matters involving differences in State and
local geography, hydrology, climate, legal frameworks,
economies, priorities, and needs;
(7) promote transparency in the consultation process under
subsection (a); and
(8) explore with State and local officials whether Federal
objectives under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act can be
attained by means other than through a new regulatory proposal.
(c) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 12 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Administrator
shall publish in the Federal Register a draft report describing
the recommendations developed under subsection (a).
(2) Consensus requirement.--The Secretary and the
Administrator may include a recommendation in the draft report
only if consensus has been reached with regard to the
recommendation among the Secretary, the Administrator, and the
State and local officials consulted under subsection (a).
(3) Failure to reach consensus.--If the Secretary, the
Administrator, and the State and local officials consulted
under subsection (a) fail to reach consensus on a regulatory
proposal, the draft report shall identify that consensus was
not reached and describe--
(A) the areas and issues where consensus was
reached;
(B) the areas and issues of continuing disagreement
that resulted in the failure to reach consensus; and
(C) the reasons for the continuing disagreements.
(4) Duration of review.--The Secretary and the
Administrator shall provide not fewer than 180 days for the
public review and comment of the draft report.
(5) Final report.--The Secretary and the Administrator
shall, in consultation with the relevant State and local
officials, address any comments received under paragraph (4)
and prepare a final report describing the final results of the
consultation process under subsection (a).
(d) Submission of Report to Congress.--Not later than 24 months
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the
Administrator shall jointly submit to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Environment and Public Works of the Senate and make publicly available
the final report prepared under subsection (c)(5).
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Army.
(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(3) State and local officials.--The term ``State and local
officials'' means elected or professional State and local
government officials or their representative regional or
national organizations.
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