[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2727 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2727

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2016

 Mr. Sullivan (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(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' has 
                the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian 
                Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
                U.S.C. 450b).
                    ``(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) Preservation lease.--The term `preservation 
                lease' means 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.
                    ``(F) State land.--The term `State land' means land 
                owned by, operated by, or otherwise belonging to a 
                State.
            ``(2) Preservation leasing of state or indian land.--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.
            ``(3) Term.--In order to satisfy compensatory mitigation 
        requirements, the term of a preservation lease--
                    ``(A) shall be not less than the life of the 
                permitted activity; and
                    ``(B) 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 a 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 a 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 relating to 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 (C)(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.''.
    (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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