I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3271 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2015 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska 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 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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. PRESERVATION LEASING OF STATE OR INDIAN 

4 LAND. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of the Federal Water 

6 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(u) PRESERVATION LEASING OF STATE OR INDIAN

2 LAND.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allow a 

4 permittee to satisfy compensatory mitigation re5 quirements for a permitted activity by entering into 

6 a preservation lease with— 

7 ‘‘(A) a State if the permitted activity af8 fects wetlands that are located in the same wa9 tershed as the State land to be leased; or 

10 ‘‘(B) an Indian tribe if the permitted activ11 ity affects wetlands that are located in the same 

12 watershed as the Indian land to be leased. 

13 ‘‘(2) PRESERVATION LEASE.—As used in para14 graph (1), a preservation lease is an agreement 

15 under which a permittee leases wetlands or other 

16 aquatic sites on State or Indian land for the sole 

17 purpose of preserving the wetlands or other aquatic 

18 sites in an undisturbed state during the term of the 

19 lease to mitigate for a permitted activity. 

20 ‘‘(3) TERM.—In order to satisfy compensatory 

21 mitigation requirements, the term of a preservation 

22 lease may be not less than the life of the permitted 

23 activity, and such term shall be adjusted to account 

24 for the cessation, in whole or in part, of the impacts 

25 caused by the permitted activity. 


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1 ‘‘(4) SITUATIONS IN WHICH PERMITTEE CEASES

2 TO MAINTAIN PERMITTED ACTIVITY.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PERMIT MODIFICATIONS.—If a per4 mittee enters into a preservation lease with a 

5 State or Indian tribe under this subsection and 

6 subsequently ceases to maintain the permitted 

7 activity, or seeks to abandon the permitted ac8 tivity without a good faith transfer, the per9 mittee shall obtain a permit modification from 

10 the Secretary, which may require restoration 

11 and rehabilitation of the area. 

12 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION WITH STATE OR IN13 DIAN TRIBE.—Before making a determination 

14 under subparagraph (A) as to whether, and to 

15 what degree, restoration and rehabilitation are 

16 required, the Secretary shall consult, and fully 

17 consider, the position of the State or Indian 

18 tribe that is a party to any preservation lease 

19 associated with the permitted activity. 

20 ‘‘(C) RESTORATION AND REHABILITATION

21 PLANS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary 

23 determines under subparagraph (A) that 

24 restoration and rehabilitation are required, 

25 the Secretary may require the permittee to 


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1 submit to the Secretary and the State or 

2 Indian tribe, as appropriate, a plan for 

3 conducting the restoration and rehabilita4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—A restoration and 

6 rehabilitation plan submitted under clause 

7 (i) shall include, at a minimum, goals and 

8 objectives, performance standards, and 

9 plans for site treatment, reporting, reme10 dial work, and monitoring to ensure that 

11 performance standards are met. 

12 ‘‘(D) REVERSION OF LAND.—After activi13 ties conducted under a restoration and rehabili14 tation plan submitted under subparagraph 

15 (D)(i) have been completed, and the 

16 hydrological functions and fish and wildlife 

17 habitat of the area impacted by the permitted 

18 activity have been restored pursuant to the res19 toration and rehabilitation plan, the land sub20 ject to the lease shall revert back to the State 

21 or Indian tribe, as appropriate, without restric22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol24 lowing definitions apply: 


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1 ‘‘(A) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘Indian 

2 land’ means land owned by, operated by, or oth3 erwise belonging to an Indian tribe. 

4 ‘‘(B) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 

5 tribe’ means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or 

6 other organized group or community, including 

7 any Alaska Native village or regional or village 

8 corporation as defined in or established pursu9 ant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 

10 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which is recognized as 

11 eligible for the special programs and services 

12 provided by the United States to Indians be13 cause of their status as Indians. 

14 ‘‘(C) PERMITTED ACTIVITY.—The term 

15 ‘permitted activity’ means a discharge of 

16 dredged or fill material for which a permit is 

17 issued under this section. 

18 ‘‘(D) PERMITTEE.—The term ‘permittee’ 

19 means a person that is issued a permit under 

20 this section. 

21 ‘‘(E) STATE LAND.—The term ‘State land’ 

22 means land owned by, operated by, or otherwise 

23 belonging to a State.’’. 

24 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub25 section (a) shall apply to permits issued under section 404 


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1 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

2 1344) after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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