II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2410 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to modify the 

requirements for permits for dredged or fill material, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mrs. HYDE-SMITH (for herself and Mr. WICKER) 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 modify 

the requirements for permits for dredged or fill material, 

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 ‘‘Flood Reduction, Wild5 life Habitat, and Water Quality Improvement Act of 

6 2019’’. 

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

8 Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

9 Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

3 Administrator’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(5) FINDINGS.—The Administrator’’; 

5 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

6 ‘‘Before making such determination’’ and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—Before making a deter9 mination under paragraph (1)’’; 

10 (C) by striking the subsection designation 

11 and all that follows through ‘‘The Adminis12 trator’’ in the first sentence and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF SPECIFICATION OF AREAS AS

15 DISPOSAL SITES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

17 the Administrator’’; 

18 (D) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so 

19 designated) the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—The Administrator may 

21 not prohibit the specification of a defined area as a 

22 disposal site, or otherwise deny or restrict the use of 

23 a defined area as a disposal site— 

24 ‘‘(A) if the area is or contains a project of 

25 the Secretary for flood control; 


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1 ‘‘(B) before an application for a permit 

2 under this section for the area has been filed; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(C) after a permit under this section for 

5 the area has been issued by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A regional office of the 

7 Administrator shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) before considering a determination 

9 under paragraph (1), obtain the approval of the 

10 Administrator; and 

11 ‘‘(B) before publishing notice of a proposed 

12 determination under paragraph (1) for the area 

13 of a project, review, consider, and adequately 

14 refute the findings of an environmental impact 

15 statement for the project pursuant to the Na16 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

17 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).’’; and 

18 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(6) IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF PRIOR DE20 TERMINATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

22 other provision of law, a determination made by 

23 the Administrator under paragraph (1) with re24 spect to the area of a project that is or contains 

25 a project of the Secretary for flood control beVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2410.IS S2410

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1 fore the date of enactment of the Flood Reduc2 tion, Wildlife Habitat, and Water Quality Im3 provement Act of 2019 shall no longer apply 

4 if— 

5 ‘‘(i) a more practicable alternative to 

6 the project has not been identified; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) as a result of a delay in con8 struction of the project, severe flooding 

9 and damage to life and property have oc10 curred. 

11 ‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding 

12 any other provision of law, an action taken by 

13 the Secretary to advance a project described in 

14 subparagraph (A) shall not be subject to judi15 cial review.’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (r), by striking ‘‘under section 

17 307),’’ and all that follows through the period at the 

18 end and inserting ‘‘under section 307).’’. 

Æ 


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