I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1732 

To preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect to waters of 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2015 

Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. CONAWAY, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. UPTON, Mr. YOUNG of 

Alaska, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. BARLETTA, Mr. 

DENHAM, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS

of Illinois, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. KATKO, Mr. BABIN, Mr. 

HARDY, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. GOSAR, 

Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. LABRADOR, and Mrs. WALORSKI) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To preserve existing rights and responsibilities with respect 

to waters of the United States, 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 ‘‘Regulatory Integrity 

5 Protection Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF EXISTING PROPOSED RULE. 

2 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Secretary of the Army and the Adminis4 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall with5 draw the proposed rule described in the notice of proposed 

6 rule published in the Federal Register entitled ‘‘Definition 

7 of ‘Waters of the United States’ Under the Clean Water 

8 Act’’ (79 Fed. Reg. 22188 (April 21, 2014)) and any final 

9 rule based on such proposed rule (including RIN 2040– 

10 AF30). 

11 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROPOSED RULE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army and 

13 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen14 cy shall develop a new proposed rule to define the term 

15 ‘‘waters of the United States’’ as used in the Federal 

16 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

17 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROPOSED RULE.—In 

18 developing the new proposed rule under subsection (a), the 

19 Secretary and the Administrator shall— 

20 (1) take into consideration the public comments 

21 received on— 

22 (A) the proposed rule referred to in section 

23 2; 

24 (B) the accompanying economic analysis of 

25 the proposed rule entitled ‘‘Economic Analysis 


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1 of Proposed Revised Definition of Waters of the 

2 United States’’ (dated March 2014); and 

3 (C) the report entitled ‘‘Connectivity of 

4 Streams & Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A 

5 Review & Synthesis of Scientific Evidence’’ 

6 (EPA/600/R–14/475F; dated January 2015); 

7 (2) jointly consult with and solicit advice and 

8 recommendations from representative State and 

9 local officials, stakeholders, and other interested par10 ties on how to define the term ‘‘waters of the United 

11 States’’ as used in the Federal Water Pollution Con12 trol Act; and 

13 (3) prepare a regulatory proposal that will, con14 sistent with applicable rulings of the United States 

15 Supreme Court, specifically identify those waters 

16 covered under, and those waters not covered under, 

17 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act— 

18 (A) taking into consideration— 

19 (i) the public comments referred to in 

20 paragraph (1); and 

21 (ii) the advice and recommendations 

22 made by the State and local officials, 

23 stakeholders, and other interested parties 

24 consulted under this section; and 


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1 (B) incorporating the areas and issues 

2 where consensus was reached with the parties. 

3 (c) FEDERALISM CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 As part of consulting with and soliciting advice and rec5 ommendations from State and local officials under sub6 section (b), the Secretary and the Administrator shall— 

7 (1) seek to reach consensus with the State and 

8 local officials on how to define the term ‘‘waters of 

9 the United States’’ as used in the Federal Water 

10 Pollution Control Act; 

11 (2) provide the State and local officials with no12 tice and an opportunity to participate in the con13 sultation process under subsection (b); 

14 (3) consult with State and local officials that 

15 represent a broad cross-section of regional, eco16 nomic, policy, and geographic perspectives in the 

17 United States; 

18 (4) emphasize the importance of collaboration 

19 with and among the State and local officials; 

20 (5) allow for meaningful and timely input by 

21 the State and local officials; 

22 (6) recognize, preserve, and protect the primary 

23 rights and responsibilities of the States to protect 

24 water quality under the Federal Water Pollution 

25 Control Act, and to plan and control the developVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Apr 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1732.IH H1732

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1 ment and use of land and water resources in the 

2 States; 

3 (7) protect the authorities of State and local 

4 governments and rights of private property owners 

5 over natural and manmade water features; 

6 (8) incorporate the advice and recommendations 

7 of the State and local officials regarding matters in8 volving differences in State and local geography, hy9 drology, climate, legal frameworks, economies, prior10 ities, and needs; and 

11 (9) ensure transparency in the consultation 

12 process, including promptly making accessible to the 

13 public all communications, records, and other docu14 ments of all meetings that are part of the consulta15 tion process. 

16 (d) STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION REQUIRE17 MENTS.—As part of consulting with and soliciting rec18 ommendations from stakeholders and other interested par19 ties under subsection (b), the Secretary and the Adminis20 trator shall— 

21 (1) identify representatives of public and pri22 vate stakeholders and other interested parties, in23 cluding small entities (as defined in section 601 of 

24 title 5, United States Code), representing a broad 

25 cross-section of regional, economic, and geographic 


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1 perspectives in the United States, which could poten2 tially be affected, directly or indirectly, by the new 

3 proposed rule under subsection (a), for the purpose 

4 of obtaining advice and recommendations from those 

5 representatives about the potential adverse impacts 

6 of the new proposed rule and means for reducing 

7 such impacts in the new proposed rule; and 

8 (2) ensure transparency in the consultation 

9 process, including promptly making accessible to the 

10 public all communications, records, and other docu11 ments of all meetings that are part of the consulta12 tion process. 

13 (e) TIMING OF FEDERALISM AND STAKEHOLDER

14 CONSULTATION.—Not later than 3 months after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Adminis16 trator shall initiate consultations with State and local offi17 cials, stakeholders, and other interested parties under sub18 section (b). 

19 (f) REPORT.—The Secretary and the Administrator 

20 shall prepare a report that— 

21 (1) identifies and responds to each of the public 

22 comments filed on— 

23 (A) the proposed rule referred to in section 

24 2; 


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1 (B) the accompanying economic analysis of 

2 the proposed rule entitled ‘‘Economic Analysis 

3 of Proposed Revised Definition of Waters of the 

4 United States’’ (dated March 2014); and 

5 (C) the report entitled ‘‘Connectivity of 

6 Streams & Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A 

7 Review & Synthesis of Scientific Evidence’’ 

8 (EPA/600/R–14/475F; dated January 2015); 

9 (2) provides a detailed explanation of how the 

10 new proposed rule under subsection (a) addresses 

11 the public comments referred to in paragraph (1); 

12 (3) describes in detail— 

13 (A) the advice and recommendations ob14 tained from the State and local officials con15 sulted under this section; 

16 (B) the areas and issues where consensus 

17 was reached with the State and local officials 

18 consulted under this section; 

19 (C) the areas and issues of continuing dis20 agreement that resulted in the failure to reach 

21 consensus; and 

22 (D) the reasons for the continuing dis23 agreements; 

24 (4) provides a detailed explanation of how the 

25 new proposed rule addresses the advice and recVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Apr 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1732.IH H1732

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1 ommendations provided by the State and local offi2 cials consulted under this section, including the 

3 areas and issues where consensus was reached with 

4 the State and local officials; 

5 (5) describes in detail— 

6 (A) the advice and recommendations ob7 tained from the stakeholders and other inter8 ested parties, including small entities, consulted 

9 under this section about the potential adverse 

10 impacts of the new proposed rule and means for 

11 reducing such impacts in the new proposed rule; 

12 and 

13 (B) how the new proposed rule addresses 

14 such advice and recommendations; 

15 (6) provides a detailed explanation of how the 

16 new proposed rule— 

17 (A) recognizes, preserves, and protects the 

18 primary rights and responsibilities of the States 

19 to protect water quality and to plan and control 

20 the development and use of land and water re21 sources in the States; and 

22 (B) is consistent with the applicable rul23 ings of the United States Supreme Court re24 garding the scope of waters to be covered under 

25 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; and 


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1 (7) provides comprehensive regulatory and eco2 nomic impact analyses, utilizing the latest data and 

3 other information, on how definitional changes in 

4 the new proposed rule will impact, directly or indi5 rectly— 

6 (A) each program under the Federal Water 

7 Pollution Control Act for Federal, State, and 

8 local government agencies; and 

9 (B) public and private stakeholders and 

10 other interested parties, including small enti11 ties, regulated under each such program. 

12 (g) PUBLICATION.— 

13 (1) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—Not later 

14 than 3 months after the completion of consultations 

15 with and solicitation of recommendations from State 

16 and local officials, stakeholders, and other interested 

17 parties under subsection (b), the Secretary and the 

18 Administrator shall publish for comment in the Fed19 eral Register— 

20 (A) the new proposed rule under sub21 section (a); 

22 (B) a description of the areas and issues 

23 where consensus was reached with the State 

24 and local officials consulted under this section; 

25 and 


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1 (C) the report described in subsection (f). 

2 (2) DURATION OF REVIEW.—The Secretary and 

3 the Administrator shall provide not fewer than 180 

4 days for the public to review and comment on— 

5 (A) the new proposed rule under sub6 section (a); 

7 (B) the accompanying economic analysis 

8 for the new proposed rule; and 

9 (C) the report described in subsection (f). 

10 (h) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—Subchapter II 

11 of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code 

12 (commonly known as the ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’) 

13 shall apply to the development and review of the new pro14 posed rule under subsection (a). 

15 (i) STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS DEFINED.—In this 

16 section, the term ‘‘State and local officials’’ means elected 

17 or professional State and local government officials or 

18 their representative regional or national organizations. 

Æ 


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