[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3927 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3927
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to
general permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2025
Mr. Rouzer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to
general permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material, 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 ``Nationwide Permitting Improvement
Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONWIDE PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT.
(a) In General.--Section 404(e) of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended--
(1) by striking ``(e)(1) In carrying'' and inserting the
following:
``(e) General Permits on State, Regional, or Nationwide Basis.--
``(1) Permits authorized.--In carrying'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``(2) No general'' and inserting
the following:
``(2) Term.--No general''; and
(B) by striking ``five years'' and inserting ``ten
years''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Considerations.--In determining the environmental
effects of an activity under paragraph (1) or (2), the
Secretary--
``(A) shall consider only the effects of any
discharge of dredged or fill material resulting from
such activity; and
``(B) shall consider any effects of a discharge of
dredged or fill material into less than 3 acres of
navigable waters to be a minimal adverse environmental
effect.
``(4) Nationwide permits for linear infrastructure
projects.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, the Secretary shall maintain
general permits on a nationwide basis for linear
infrastructure projects that result in a discharge of
dredged or fill material into less than 3 acres of
navigable waters for each single and complete project
(as defined in section 330.2 of title 33, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of
enactment of this paragraph)).
``(B) Definition of linear infrastructure
project.--In this paragraph, the term `linear
infrastructure project' means a project to carry out
any activity required for the construction, expansion,
maintenance, modification, or removal of infrastructure
and associated facilities for the transmission from a
point of origin to a terminal point of communications
or electricity, or for the transportation from a point
of origin to a terminal point of people, water,
wastewater, carbon dioxide, or fuel or hydrocarbons (in
the form of a liquid, liquescent, gaseous, or slurry
substance or supercritical fluid), including oil and
gas pipeline facilities.
``(5) Reissuance of nationwide permits.--In determining
whether to reissue a general permit issued under this
subsection on a nationwide basis--
``(A) no consultation with an applicable State
pursuant to section 6(a) of the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1535(a)) is required;
``(B) no consultation with a Federal agency
pursuant to section 7(a)(2) of such Act (16 U.S.C.
1536(a)(2)) is required; and
``(C) the requirements of section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(C)) shall be satisfied by preparing an
environmental assessment with respect to such general
permit.''.
(b) Regulatory Revisions Required.--The Secretary of the Army,
acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall expeditiously revise the
regulations applicable to carrying out section 404(e) of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) in order to streamline the
processes for issuing general permits under such section to promote
efficient and consistent implementation of such section.
(c) Administration of Nationwide Permit Program.--In carrying out
section 404(e) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1344), including in revising regulations under subsection (b) of this
section, the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of
Engineers, may not finalize or implement any modification to--
(1) general condition 15 (relating to single and complete
projects), as included in the final rule titled ``Reissuance
and Modification of Nationwide Permits'' and published on
January 13, 2021, by the Department of the Army, Corps of
Engineers (86 Fed. Reg. 2868);
(2) the definition of the term ``single and complete linear
project'', as included in such final rule (86 Fed. Reg. 2877);
or
(3) the definition of the term ``single and complete
project'', as included in section 330.2 of title 33, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of
this Act).
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