II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3082 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make changes with 

respect to water quality certification, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 19, 2023 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. DAINES, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. 

RICKETTS) 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 make 

changes with respect to water quality certification, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Water Quality Certifi5 cation Improvement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION. 

7 Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

8 Act (33 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) in the first sentence— 

3 (I) by inserting ‘‘by the appli4 cant’’ after ‘‘any discharge’’; and 

5 (II) by inserting ‘‘as a result of 

6 the federally licensed or permitted ac7 tivity’’ after ‘‘into the navigable 

8 waters’’; 

9 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

10 ‘‘activity’’ and inserting ‘‘discharge’’; 

11 (iii) in the third sentence, by striking 

12 ‘‘applications’’ each place it appears and 

13 inserting ‘‘requests’’; 

14 (iv) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

15 ‘‘act on’’ and inserting ‘‘grant or deny’’; 

16 and 

17 (v) by inserting after the fourth sen18 tence the following: ‘‘The certifying State, 

19 interstate agency, or Administrator shall 

20 publish the requirements for certification 

21 that meet the applicable provisions of sec22 tions 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307. The 

23 decision to grant or deny a request shall be 

24 based only on the applicable provisions of 

25 sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 and 


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1 the grounds for a decision shall be set 

2 forth in writing to the applicant.’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in the second sentence— 

5 (I) by striking ‘‘such a dis6 charge’’ and inserting ‘‘a discharge 

7 made into the navigable waters by the 

8 applicant as described in paragraph 

9 (1)’’; 

10 (II) by inserting ‘‘receipt of the’’ 

11 before ‘‘notice’’; and 

12 (III) by striking ‘‘of application 

13 for such Federal license or permit’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘under the preceding 

15 sentence’’; 

16 (ii) in the third sentence— 

17 (I) by striking ‘‘such discharge’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘any discharge made 

19 into the navigable waters by the appli20 cant as described in paragraph (1)’’; 

21 and 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘any water qual23 ity requirement’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

24 applicable provisions of sections 301, 

25 302, 303, 306, and 307’’; 


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1 (iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘insure compliance with applicable water 

3 quality requirements.’’ and inserting ‘‘en4 sure any discharge into the navigable 

5 waters by the applicant as described in 

6 paragraph (1) will comply with the applica7 ble provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 

8 306, and 307.’’; and 

9 (iv) by striking the first sentence and 

10 inserting ‘‘Not later than 90 days after re11 ceipt of a request for certification, the cer12 tifying State, interstate agency, or Admin13 istrator shall identify in writing all specific 

14 additional materials or information that 

15 are necessary to make a final decision on 

16 a request for certification. On receipt of a 

17 request for certification, the certifying 

18 State or interstate agency, as applicable, 

19 shall immediately notify the Administrator 

20 of the request.’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

22 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘there will be compliance’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘a discharge made into the navigable 


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1 waters by the applicant as described in 

2 paragraph (1) will comply’’; and 

3 (ii) in the second sentence— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘section’’ and in5 serting ‘‘the applicable provisions of 

6 sections’’; and 

7 (II) by striking ‘‘or 307 of this 

8 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘and 307’’; 

9 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

10 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

11 ‘‘applicable effluent limitations’’ and all 

12 that follows through the period at the end 

13 and inserting ‘‘any discharge made by the 

14 applicant into the navigable waters as de15 scribed in paragraph (1) will not violate 

16 the applicable provisions of sections 301, 

17 302, 303, 306, and 307.’’; 

18 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

19 ‘‘will violate applicable effluent limitations 

20 or other limitations or other water quality 

21 requirements such Federal’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘will result in a discharge made into the 

23 navigable waters by the applicant as de24 scribed in paragraph (1) that violates the 


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1 applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 

2 303, 306, and 307, the Federal’’; and 

3 (iii) in the third sentence— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘such facility or 

5 activity’’ and inserting ‘‘a discharge 

6 made by the applicant into the navi7 gable waters as described in para8 graph (1)’’; and 

9 (II) by striking ‘‘section 301, 

10 302, 303, 306, or 307 of this Act’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘sections 301, 302, 303, 

12 306, and 307’’; and 

13 (E) in paragraph (5)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘such facility or activ15 ity has been operated in’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘any discharge made by the applicant into 

17 the navigable waters as described in para18 graph (1) is in’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 301, 302, 

20 303, 306, or 307 of this Act’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 

22 307’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘assure that 

24 any applicant for a Federal license or permit will 

25 comply with any applicable’’ and inserting the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Oct 20, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3082.IS S3082

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1 lowing: ‘‘ensure that any discharge made by the ap2 plicant into the navigable waters as described in sub3 section (a)(1) shall comply with the applicable provi4 sions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307. Any 

5 limitations or requirements in the preceding sen6 tence shall become a condition on any Federal li7 cense or permit subject to the provisions of this sec8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF

10 SECTIONS 301, 302, 303, 306, AND 307.—In this section, 

11 the term ‘applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 

12 306, and 307’ means, as applicable,’’; and 

13 (3) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘with’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘other appropriate’’; and 

16 (C) by striking ‘‘set forth’’ and all that fol17 lows through the period at the end and insert18 ing ‘‘implementing water quality criteria under 

19 section 303 necessary to support the specified 

20 designated use or uses of the receiving navi21 gable water.’’. 

Æ 


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