II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 468 

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

of the Administrator to disapprove specifications of disposal sites for 

the discharge of, dredged or fill material, and to clarify the procedure 

under which a higher review of specifications may be requested. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2011 

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. PAUL, and Mr. INHOFE) 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 clarify 

the authority of the Administrator to disapprove specifications of disposal sites for the discharge of, dredged 

or fill material, and to clarify the procedure under which 

a higher review of specifications may be requested. 

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 ‘‘Mining Jobs Protection 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 

2 Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

3 Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by striking subsection 

4 (c) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR TO DIS6 APPROVE SPECIFICATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in ac8 cordance with this subsection, may prohibit the spec9 ification of any defined area as a disposal site, and 

10 may deny or restrict the use of any defined area for 

11 specification as a disposal site, in any case in which 

12 the Administrator determines, after notice and op13 portunity for public hearings and consultation with 

14 the Secretary, that the discharge of those materials 

15 into the area will have an unacceptable adverse ef16 fect on— 

17 ‘‘(A) municipal water supplies; 

18 ‘‘(B) shellfish beds and fishery areas (in19 cluding spawning and breeding areas); 

20 ‘‘(C) wildlife; or 

21 ‘‘(D) recreational areas. 

22 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR ACTION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

24 shall— 

25 ‘‘(i) not later than 30 days after the 

26 date on which the Administrator receives 


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1 from the Secretary for review a specifica2 tion proposed to be issued under sub3 section (a), provide notice to the Secretary 

4 of, and publish in the Federal Register, a 

5 description of any potential concerns of the 

6 Administrator with respect to the specifica7 tion, including a list of measures required 

8 to fully address those concerns; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) if the Administrator intends to 

10 disapprove a specification, not later than 

11 60 days after the date on which the Ad12 ministrator receives a proposed specifica13 tion under subsection (a) from the Sec14 retary, provide to the Secretary and the 

15 applicant, and publish in the Federal Reg16 ister, a statement of disapproval of the 

17 specification pursuant to this subsection, 

18 including the reasons for the disapproval. 

19 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Adminis20 trator fails to take any action or meet any 

21 deadline described in subparagraph (A) with re22 spect to a proposed specification, the Adminis23 trator shall have no further authority under 

24 this subsection to disapprove or prohibit 

25 issuance of the specification. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NO RETROACTIVE DISAPPROVAL.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the 

3 Administrator to disapprove or prohibit 

4 issuance of a specification under this sub5 section— 

6 ‘‘(i) terminates as of the date that is 

7 60 days after the date on which the Ad8 ministrator receives the proposed specifica9 tion from the Secretary for review; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) shall not be used with respect to 

11 any specification after issuance of the spec12 ification by the Secretary under subsection 

13 (a). 

14 ‘‘(B) SPECIFICATIONS DISAPPROVED BE15 FORE DATE OF ENACTMENT.—In any case in 

16 which, before the date of enactment of this sub17 paragraph, the Administrator disapproved a 

18 specification under this subsection (as in effect 

19 on the day before the date of enactment of the 

20 Mining Jobs Protection Act) after the specifica21 tion was issued by the Secretary pursuant to 

22 subsection (a)— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Secretary may— 


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1 ‘‘(I) reevaluate and reissue the 

2 specification after making appropriate 

3 modifications; or 

4 ‘‘(II) elect not to reissue the 

5 specification; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator shall have no 

7 further authority to disapprove the modi8 fied specification or any reissuance of the 

9 specification. 

10 ‘‘(C) FINALITY.—An election by the Sec11 retary under subparagraph (B)(i) shall con12 stitute final agency action. 

13 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in 

14 paragraph (3), this subsection applies to each speci15 fication proposed to be issued under subsection (a) 

16 that is pending as of, or requested or filed on or 

17 after, the date of enactment of the Mining Jobs Pro18 tection Act’’. 

19 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF PERMITS. 

20 Section 404(q) of the Federal Water Pollution Con21 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(q)) is amended— 

22 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘(q) Not 

23 later than’’ and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(q) AGREEMENTS; HIGHER REVIEW OF PERMITS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) AGREEMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than’’; 

2 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘Such 

3 agreements’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.—Agreements described 

5 in subparagraph (A)’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(2) HIGHER REVIEW OF PERMITS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (C), before the Administrator or the head 

10 of another Federal agency requests that a per11 mit proposed to be issued under this section re12 ceive a higher level of review by the Secretary, 

13 the Administrator or other head shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) consult with the head of the State 

15 agency having jurisdiction over aquatic re16 sources in each State in which activities 

17 under the requested permit would be car18 ried out; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) obtain official consent from the 

20 State agency (or, in the case of multiple 

21 States in which activities under the re22 quested permit would be carried out, from 

23 each State agency) to designate areas cov24 ered or affected by the proposed permit as 

25 aquatic resources of national importance. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO OBTAIN CONSENT.—If 

2 the Administrator or the head of another Fed3 eral agency does not obtain State consent de4 scribed in subparagraph (A) with respect to a 

5 permit proposed to be issued under this section, 

6 the Administrator or Federal agency may not 

7 proceed in seeking higher review of the permit. 

8 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON ELEVATIONS.—The 

9 Administrator or the head of another Federal 

10 agency may request that a permit proposed to 

11 be issued under this section receive a higher 

12 level of review by the Secretary not more than 

13 once per permit. 

14 ‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This paragraph 

15 applies to permits for which applications are 

16 submitted under this section on or after Janu17 ary 1, 2010.’’. 

Æ 


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