[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 594 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 594

To preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect to waters 
             of the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2015

    Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Ashford, Mr. Barr, Mr. 
Benishek, Mr. Blum, Mr. Bost, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Bridenstine, Mr. Brooks 
    of Alabama, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Collins of 
Georgia, Mr. Cook, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Denham, Mr. Dent, Mr. 
Emmer, Mr. Farenthold, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Flores, Mr. Franks of Arizona, 
  Mr. Gibson, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mr. 
  Griffith, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Harper, Mr. Hanna, Mr. Jody B. Hice of 
Georgia, Mr. Hill, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Huelskamp, Mr. Huizenga of Michigan, 
Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hurd of Texas, Mr. Hurt of Virginia, Mr. Sam Johnson of 
 Texas, Mr. Jolly, Mr. Joyce, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. Kinzinger 
of Illinois, Mr. Latta, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Long, Mr. Lucas, 
    Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Marchant, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Duncan of South 
    Carolina, Mr. McKinley, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Meadows, Mr. 
Newhouse, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Nugent, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Olson, Mr. Pearce, 
 Mr. Peterson, Mr. Pittenger, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Rogers 
of Kentucky, Mr. Rokita, Mr. Rooney of Florida, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, 
 Mr. Salmon, Mr. Schock, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Smith of 
  Missouri, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. 
 Tipton, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Upton, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Weber of 
 Texas, Mr. Wenstrup, Mr. Westerman, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Williams, Mr. 
Womack, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Zinke, Mr. Westmoreland, Mr. Yoho, Mr. 
   Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Crenshaw, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. 
Webster of Florida, Mr. Palazzo, Mr. Babin, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Walden, Mr. 
Amash, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Perry) 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 2015''.

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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