[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3271 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3271

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to allow preservation 
leasing as a form of compensatory mitigation for discharges of dredged 
    or fill material affecting State or Indian land, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2015

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
         to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to allow preservation 
leasing as a form of compensatory mitigation for discharges of dredged 
    or fill material affecting State or Indian land, 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. PRESERVATION LEASING OF STATE OR INDIAN LAND.

    (a) In General.--Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(u) Preservation Leasing of State or Indian Land.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall allow a permittee to 
        satisfy compensatory mitigation requirements for a permitted 
        activity by entering into a preservation lease with--
                    ``(A) a State if the permitted activity affects 
                wetlands that are located in the same watershed as the 
                State land to be leased; or
                    ``(B) an Indian tribe if the permitted activity 
                affects wetlands that are located in the same watershed 
                as the Indian land to be leased.
            ``(2) Preservation lease.--As used in paragraph (1), a 
        preservation lease is an agreement under which a permittee 
        leases wetlands or other aquatic sites on State or Indian land 
        for the sole purpose of preserving the wetlands or other 
        aquatic sites in an undisturbed state during the term of the 
        lease to mitigate for a permitted activity.
            ``(3) Term.--In order to satisfy compensatory mitigation 
        requirements, the term of a preservation lease may be not less 
        than the life of the permitted activity, and such term shall be 
        adjusted to account for the cessation, in whole or in part, of 
        the impacts caused by the permitted activity.
            ``(4) Situations in which permittee ceases to maintain 
        permitted activity.--
                    ``(A) Permit modifications.--If a permittee enters 
                into a preservation lease with a State or Indian tribe 
                under this subsection and subsequently ceases to 
                maintain the permitted activity, or seeks to abandon 
                the permitted activity without a good faith transfer, 
                the permittee shall obtain a permit modification from 
                the Secretary, which may require restoration and 
                rehabilitation of the area.
                    ``(B) Consultation with state or indian tribe.--
                Before making a determination under subparagraph (A) as 
                to whether, and to what degree, restoration and 
                rehabilitation are required, the Secretary shall 
                consult, and fully consider, the position of the State 
                or Indian tribe that is a party to any preservation 
                lease associated with the permitted activity.
                    ``(C) Restoration and rehabilitation plans.--
                            ``(i) In general.--If the Secretary 
                        determines under subparagraph (A) that 
                        restoration and rehabilitation are required, 
                        the Secretary may require the permittee to 
                        submit to the Secretary and the State or Indian 
                        tribe, as appropriate, a plan for conducting 
                        the restoration and rehabilitation.
                            ``(ii) Contents.--A restoration and 
                        rehabilitation plan submitted under clause (i) 
                        shall include, at a minimum, goals and 
                        objectives, performance standards, and plans 
                        for site treatment, reporting, remedial work, 
                        and monitoring to ensure that performance 
                        standards are met.
                    ``(D) Reversion of land.--After activities 
                conducted under a restoration and rehabilitation plan 
                submitted under subparagraph (D)(i) have been 
                completed, and the hydrological functions and fish and 
                wildlife habitat of the area impacted by the permitted 
                activity have been restored pursuant to the restoration 
                and rehabilitation plan, the land subject to the lease 
                shall revert back to the State or Indian tribe, as 
                appropriate, without restriction.
            ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection, the following 
        definitions apply:
                    ``(A) Indian land.--The term `Indian land' means 
                land owned by, operated by, or otherwise belonging to 
                an Indian tribe.
                    ``(B) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means 
                any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized 
                group or community, including any Alaska Native village 
                or regional or village corporation as defined in or 
                established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims 
                Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which is 
                recognized as eligible for the special programs and 
                services provided by the United States to Indians 
                because of their status as Indians.
                    ``(C) Permitted activity.--The term `permitted 
                activity' means a discharge of dredged or fill material 
                for which a permit is issued under this section.
                    ``(D) Permittee.--The term `permittee' means a 
                person that is issued a permit under this section.
                    ``(E) State land.--The term `State land' means land 
                owned by, operated by, or otherwise belonging to a 
                State.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to permits issued under section 404 of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
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