I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2421 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction 

of the United States over waters of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. EHLERS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. KIRK, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. WALSH of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. 

TAUSCHER, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. FILNER, Ms. CORRINE

BROWN of Florida, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. BISHOP

of New York, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. CARSON, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. 

ARCURI, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. 

DOGGETT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. 

BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. KUCINICH, 

Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 

California, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. HOOLEY, 

Mr. SERRANO, Mr. WAXMAN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 

SARBANES, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. CROWLEY, 

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. 

CASTOR, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. 

CLAY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. WYNN, Mr. LANGEVIN, 

Mr. VISCLOSKY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. HODES, 

Mr. STARK, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. SUTTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. HOLT, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. SHERMAN, 

Mr. FARR, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ANDREWS, 

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Ms. BEAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. 

NEAL of Massachusetts, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. WU, Mr. TIERNEY, 

Mr. WEINER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, 

Ms. CLARKE, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. ENGEL, 


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Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. DICKS, Mr. KIND, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 

Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. WELCH of Vermont, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. COOPER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. STUPAK, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. WATERS, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. INSLEE, Ms. LEE, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. RANGEL, 

Ms. DELAURO, and Mr. LYNCH) 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 clarify 

the jurisdiction of the United States over waters of the 

United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Water Restora5 tion Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 

8 (1) To reaffirm the original intent of Congress 

9 in enacting the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

10 Amendments of 1972 (86 Stat. 816) to restore and 

11 maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integ12 rity of the waters of the United States. 

13 (2) To clearly define the waters of the United 

14 States that are subject to the Federal Water Pollu15 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 


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1 (3) To provide protection to the waters of the 

2 United States to the fullest extent of the legislative 

3 authority of Congress under the Constitution. 

4 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Water is a unique and precious resource 

7 that is necessary to sustain human life and the life 

8 of animals and plants. 

9 (2) Water is used not only for human, animal, 

10 and plant consumption, but is also important for ag11 riculture, transportation, flood control, energy pro12 duction, recreation, fishing and shellfishing, and mu13 nicipal and commercial uses. 

14 (3) In enacting amendments to the Federal 

15 Water Pollution Control Act in 1972 and through 

16 subsequent amendment, including the Clean Water 

17 Act of 1977 (91 Stat. 1566) and the Water Quality 

18 Act of 1987 (101 Stat. 7), Congress established the 

19 national objective of restoring and maintaining the 

20 chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the wa21 ters of the United States and recognized that achiev22 ing this objective requires uniform, minimum na23 tional water quality and aquatic ecosystem protec24 tion standards to restore and maintain the natural 

25 structures and functions of the aquatic ecosystems 


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1 of the United States. Since the 1970s, the definition 

2 of ‘waters of the United States’ in the regulations of 

3 the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army 

4 Corps of Engineers have properly established the 

5 scope of waters to be protected under the Federal 

6 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et 

7 seq.) in order to meet such national objective. 

8 (4) Water is transported through inter9 connected hydrologic cycles, and the pollution, im10 pairment, or destruction of any part of an aquatic 

11 system may affect the chemical, physical, and bio12 logical integrity of other parts of the aquatic system. 

13 (5) Protection of intrastate waters, along with 

14 other waters of the United States, is necessary to re15 store and maintain the chemical, physical, and bio16 logical integrity of all waters in the United States. 

17 (6) The regulation of discharges of pollutants 

18 into interstate and intrastate waters is an integral 

19 part of the comprehensive clean water regulatory 

20 program of the United States. 

21 (7) Small and intermittent streams, including 

22 ephemeral, and seasonal streams, and their start 

23 reaches comprise the majority of all stream and river 

24 miles in the conterminous United States. These wa25 ters reduce the introduction of pollutants to larger 


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1 rivers and streams, affect the life cycles of aquatic 

2 organisms and wildlife, and impact the flow of high3 er order streams during floods. 

4 (8) The pollution or other degradation of wa5 ters of the United States, individually and in the ag6 gregate, has a substantial relation to and effect on 

7 interstate commerce. 

8 (9) Protection of the waters of the United 

9 States, including intrastate waters, is necessary to 

10 prevent significant harm to interstate commerce and 

11 sustain a robust system of interstate commerce in 

12 the future. 

13 (10) Waters, including wetlands, provide protec14 tion from flooding, and draining or filling wetlands 

15 and channelizing or filling streams, including intra16 state wetlands and streams, can cause or exacerbate 

17 flooding, placing a significant burden on interstate 

18 commerce. 

19 (11) Millions of people in the United States de20 pend on wetlands and other waters of the United 

21 States to filter water and recharge surface and sub22 surface drinking water supplies, protect human 

23 health, and create economic opportunity. Source 

24 water protection areas containing one or more small 

25 or intermittent streams provide water to public 


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1 drinking water supplies serving more than 

2 110,000,000 Americans. 

3 (12) Millions of people in the United States 

4 enjoy recreational activities that depend on intra5 state waters, such as waterfowl hunting, bird watch6 ing, fishing, and photography, and those activities 

7 and associated travel generate billions of dollars of 

8 income each year for the travel, tourism, recreation, 

9 and sporting sectors of the economy of the United 

10 States. 

11 (13) Activities that result in the discharge of 

12 pollutants into waters of the United States are com13 mercial or economic in nature. More than 40 per14 cent, or 14,800, facilities with permits issued under 

15 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, including 

16 industrial facilities and municipal sewage treatment 

17 systems, discharge into small or intermittent 

18 streams. 

19 (14) States have the responsibility and right to 

20 prevent, reduce, and eliminate pollution of waters, 

21 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act re22 spects the rights and responsibilities of States by 

23 preserving for States the ability to manage permit24 ting, grant, and research programs to prevent, re25 duce, and eliminate pollution, and to establish standVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:21 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2421.IH H2421

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1 ards and programs more protective of a State’s wa2 ters than is provided under Federal standards and 

3 programs. 

4 (15) Protecting the quality of and regulating 

5 activities affecting the waters of the United States 

6 is a necessary and proper means of implementing 

7 treaties to which the United States is a party, in8 cluding treaties protecting species of fish, birds, and 

9 wildlife. 

10 (16) Protecting the quality of and regulating 

11 activities affecting the waters of the United States 

12 is a necessary and proper means of protecting Fed13 eral land, including hundreds of millions of acres of 

14 parkland, refuge land, and other land under Federal 

15 ownership and the wide array of waters encompassed 

16 by that land. 

17 (17) Protecting the quality of and regulating 

18 activities affecting the waters of the United States 

19 is necessary to protect Federal land and waters from 

20 discharges of pollutants and other forms of degrada21 tion. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

23 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

24 Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended— 

25 (1) by striking paragraph (7); 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through 

2 (24) as paragraphs (7) through (23), respectively; 

3 and 

4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(24) WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES.—The 

6 term ‘waters of the United States’ means all waters 

7 subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial 

8 seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and 

9 their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (in10 cluding intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, 

11 wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, 

12 playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of 

13 the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, 

14 or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the 

15 legislative power of Congress under the Constitu16 tion.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

18 The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

19 1251 et seq.) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘navigable waters of the United 

21 States’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘waters 

22 of the United States’’; 

23 (2) in section 304(l)(1) by striking ‘‘NAVIGABLE

24 WATERS’’ in the heading and inserting ‘‘WATERS OF

25 THE UNITED STATES’’; and 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each place it 

2 appears and inserting ‘‘waters of the United 

3 States’’. 

4 SEC. 6. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

5 Nothing in this Act (including any amendment made 

6 by this Act) shall be construed as affecting the authority 

7 of the Secretary of the Army or the Administrator of the 

8 Environmental Protection Agency (as the case may be) 

9 under the following provisions of the Federal Water Pollu10 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.): 

11 (1) Section 402(l)(1), relating to discharges 

12 composed entirely of agricultural return flows. 

13 (2) Section 402(l)(2), relating to discharges of 

14 stormwater runoff from oil, gas, and mining oper15 ations. 

16 (3) Section 404(f)(1)(A), relating to discharges 

17 of dredged or fill materials from normal farming, 

18 silviculture, and ranching activities. 

19 (4) Section 404(f)(1)(B), relating to discharges 

20 of dredged or fill materials for the purpose of main21 tenance of currently serviceable structures. 

22 (5) Section 404(f)(1)(C), relating to discharges 

23 of dredged or fill materials for the purpose of con24 struction or maintenance of farm or stock ponds or 


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1 irrigation ditches and maintenance of drainage 

2 ditches. 

3 (6) Section 404(f)(1)(D), relating to discharges 

4 of dredged or fill materials for the purpose of con5 struction of temporary sedimentation basins on con6 struction sites. 

7 (7) Section 404(f)(1)(E), relating to discharges 

8 of dredged or fill materials for the purpose of con9 struction or maintenance of farm roads or forest 

10 roads or temporary roads for moving mining equip11 ment. 

12 (8) Section 404(f)(1)(F), relating to discharges 

13 of dredged or fill materials resulting from activities 

14 with respect to which a State has an approved pro15 gram under section 208(b)(4) of such Act. 

Æ 


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