IB 

Union Calendar No. 449 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5077 

[Report No. 113–604] 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide guidance 

and clarification regarding issuing new and renewal permits, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2014 

Mrs. CAPITO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. BARR, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. MURPHY

of Pennsylvania, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. ROKITA, 

Mr. WHITFIELD, and Mr. ROTHFUS

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 11, 2014] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide guidance and clarification regarding issuing new 

and renewal permits, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Coal Jobs Protection 

5 Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION 

7 SYSTEM. 

8 (a) APPLICABILITY OF GUIDANCE.—Section 402 of the 

9 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(s) APPLICABILITY OF GUIDANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

13 ‘‘(A) GUIDANCE.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘guid15 ance’ means draft, interim, or final guid16 ance issued by the Administrator. 

17 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘guid18 ance’ includes— 

19 ‘‘(I) the interim guidance memo20 randum issued by the Administrator 

21 on April 1, 2010, entitled ‘Detailed 

22 Guidance: Improving EPA Review of 

23 Appalachian Surface Coal Mining Op24 erations under the Clean Water Act, 

25 National Environmental Policy Act, 


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1 and the Environmental Justice Execu2 tive Order’; 

3 ‘‘(II) the proposed guidance de4 scribed in the notice of availability 

5 and request for comments entitled 

6 ‘EPA and Army Corps of Engineers 

7 Guidance Regarding Identification of 

8 Waters Protected by the Clean Water 

9 Act’ (76 Fed. Reg. 24479 (May 2, 

10 2011)); 

11 ‘‘(III) the final guidance memo12 randum issued by the Administrator 

13 on July 21, 2011, entitled ‘Improving 

14 EPA Review of Appalachian Surface 

15 Coal Mining Operations Under the 

16 Clean Water Act, National Environ17 mental Policy Act, and the Environ18 mental Justice Executive Order’; 

19 ‘‘(IV) the proposed guidance sub20 mitted to the Office of Information and 

21 Regulatory Affairs of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget for regu23 latory review under Executive Order 

24 12866 entitled ‘Guidance on Identi25 fying Waters Protected By the Clean 


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1 Water Act’ and dated February 17, 

2 2012 (referred to as ‘Clean Water Pro3 tection Guidance’, Regulatory Identi4 fier Number (RIN) 2040–ZA11, re5 ceived February 21, 2012); 

6 ‘‘(V) any successor document to, 

7 or any substantially similar guidance 

8 based in whole or in part on, any of 

9 the foregoing guidance documents; and 

10 ‘‘(VI) any other document or 

11 paper proposed or issued by the Ad12 ministrator through any process other 

13 than the notice and comment rule14 making process. 

15 ‘‘(B) NEW PERMIT.—The term ‘new permit’ 

16 means a permit covering discharges from a point 

17 source— 

18 ‘‘(i) that is issued under this section by 

19 a permitting authority; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) for which an application is— 

21 ‘‘(I) pending as of the date of en22 actment of this subsection; or 

23 ‘‘(II) filed on or after the date of 

24 enactment of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(C) PERMITTING AUTHORITY.—The term 

2 ‘permitting authority’ means— 

3 ‘‘(i) the Administrator; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) a State, acting pursuant to a per5 mit program under subsection (b). 

6 ‘‘(2) PERMITS.— 

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

8 other provision of law, in making a determina9 tion whether to approve a new permit or a re10 newed permit, the permitting authority— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall base the determination only 

12 on compliance with regulations issued by 

13 the Administrator or the permitting author14 ity; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) shall not base the determination 

16 on the extent of adherence of the applicant 

17 for the new permit or renewed permit to 

18 guidance. 

19 ‘‘(B) NEW PERMITS.—If the permitting au20 thority does not approve or deny an application 

21 for a new permit by the date that is 270 days 

22 after the date of receipt of a substantially com23 plete application for the new permit, the appli24 cant may discharge as if the application were 

25 approved in accordance with Federal law for the 


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1 period of time for which a similar permit would 

2 be approved. 

3 ‘‘(C) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETENESS.—In de4 termining whether an application for a new per5 mit or a renewed permit received under this 

6 paragraph is substantially complete, the permit7 ting authority shall use standards for deter8 mining substantial completeness of similar per9 mits for similar facilities submitted in fiscal 

10 year 2007.’’. 

11 (b) STATE PERMIT PROGRAMS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 402 of the Federal 

13 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is 

14 amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(b) STATE PERMIT PROGRAMS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At any time after the pro18 mulgation of the guidelines required by section 

19 304(i)(2), the Governor of each State desiring to ad20 minister a permit program for discharges into navi21 gable waters within the jurisdiction of the State may 

22 submit to the Administrator— 

23 ‘‘(A) a full and complete description of the 

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1 minister under State law or under an interstate 

2 compact; and 

3 ‘‘(B) a statement from the attorney general 

4 (or the attorney for those State water pollution 

5 control agencies that have independent legal 

6 counsel), or from the chief legal officer in the 

7 case of an interstate agency, that the laws of the 

8 State, or the interstate compact, as applicable, 

9 provide adequate authority to carry out the de10 scribed program. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Administrator shall ap12 prove each program for which a description is sub13 mitted under paragraph (1) unless the Administrator 

14 determines that adequate authority does not exist— 

15 ‘‘(A) to issue permits that— 

16 ‘‘(i) apply, and ensure compliance 

17 with, any applicable requirements of sec18 tions 301, 302, 306, 307, and 403; 

19 ‘‘(ii) are for fixed terms not exceeding 

20 5 years; 

21 ‘‘(iii) can be terminated or modified 

22 for cause, including— 

23 ‘‘(I) a violation of any condition 

24 of the permit; 


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1 ‘‘(II) obtaining a permit by mis2 representation or failure to disclose 

3 fully all relevant facts; and 

4 ‘‘(III) a change in any condition 

5 that requires either a temporary or 

6 permanent reduction or elimination of 

7 the permitted discharge; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) control the disposal of pollutants 

9 into wells; 

10 ‘‘(B)(i) to issue permits that apply, and en11 sure compliance with, all applicable require12 ments of section 308; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) to inspect, monitor, enter, and require 

14 reports to at least the same extent as required in 

15 section 308; 

16 ‘‘(C) to ensure that the public, and any 

17 other State the waters of which may be affected, 

18 receives notice of each application for a permit 

19 and an opportunity for a public hearing before 

20 a ruling on each application; 

21 ‘‘(D) to ensure that the Administrator re22 ceives notice and a copy of each application for 

23 a permit; 

24 ‘‘(E) to ensure that any State (other than 

25 the permitting State), the waters of which may 


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1 be affected by the issuance of a permit may sub2 mit written recommendations to the permitting 

3 State and the Administrator with respect to any 

4 permit application and, if any part of the writ5 ten recommendations are not accepted by the 

6 permitting State, that the permitting State will 

7 notify the affected State and the Administrator 

8 in writing of the failure of the permitting State 

9 to accept the recommendations, including the 

10 reasons for not accepting the recommendations; 

11 ‘‘(F) to ensure that no permit will be issued 

12 if, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Army 

13 acting through the Chief of Engineers, after con14 sultation with the Secretary of the department in 

15 which the Coast Guard is operating, anchorage 

16 and navigation of any of the navigable waters 

17 would be substantially impaired by the issuance 

18 of the permit; 

19 ‘‘(G) to abate violations of the permit or the 

20 permit program, including civil and criminal 

21 penalties and other means of enforcement; 

22 ‘‘(H) to ensure that any permit for a dis23 charge from a publicly owned treatment works 

24 includes conditions to require the identification 

25 in terms of character and volume of pollutants of 


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1 any significant source introducing pollutants 

2 subject to pretreatment standards under section 

3 307(b) into the treatment works and a program 

4 to ensure compliance with those pretreatment 

5 standards by each source, in addition to ade6 quate notice, which shall include information on 

7 the quality and quantity of effluent to be intro8 duced into the treatment works and any antici9 pated impact of the change in the quantity or 

10 quality of effluent to be discharged from the pub11 licly owned treatment works, to the permitting 

12 agency of— 

13 ‘‘(i) new introductions into the treat14 ment works of pollutants from any source 

15 that would be a new source as defined in 

16 section 306 if the source were discharging 

17 pollutants; 

18 ‘‘(ii) new introductions of pollutants 

19 into the treatment works from a source that 

20 would be subject to section 301 if the source 

21 were discharging those pollutants; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) a substantial change in volume 

23 or character of pollutants being introduced 

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1 ducing pollutants into the treatment works 

2 at the time of issuance of the permit; and 

3 ‘‘(I) to ensure that any industrial user of 

4 any publicly owned treatment works will comply 

5 with sections 204(b), 307, and 308. 

6 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Notwithstanding para7 graph (2), the Administrator may not disapprove or 

8 withdraw approval of a program under this sub9 section, or limit Federal financial assistance for such 

10 program, on the basis of the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) The failure of the program to incor12 porate or comply with guidance (as defined in 

13 subsection (s)(1)). 

14 ‘‘(B) The implementation of a water quality 

15 standard that has been adopted by the State and 

16 approved by the Administrator under section 

17 303(c).’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (A) FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT.—Section 309 

20 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

21 U.S.C. 1319) is amended— 

22 (i) in subsection (c)— 

23 (I) in paragraph (1)(A), by strik24 ing ‘‘402(b)(8)’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘402(b)(2)(H)’’; and 


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1 (II) in paragraph (2)(A), by 

2 striking ‘‘402(b)(8)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘402(b)(2)(H)’’; and 

4 (ii) in subsection (d), in the first sen5 tence, by striking ‘‘402(b)(8)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘402(b)(2)(H)’’. 

7 (B) ADDITIONAL PRETREATMENT.—Section 

8 402(m) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

9 Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(m)) is amended in the first 

10 sentence by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(8) of this 

11 section’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(H)’’. 

12 (c) SUSPENSION OF FEDERAL PROGRAM.—Section 

13 402(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

14 U.S.C. 1342(c)) is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para16 graph (5); and 

17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON DISAPPROVAL.—Notwith20 standing paragraphs (1) through (3), the Adminis21 trator may not disapprove or withdraw approval of 

22 a State program under subsection (b), or limit Fed23 eral financial assistance for the State program, on the 

24 basis of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The failure of the program to incor2 porate or comply with guidance (as defined in 

3 subsection (s)(1)). 

4 ‘‘(B) The implementation of a water quality 

5 standard that has been adopted by the State and 

6 approved by the Administrator under section 

7 303(c).’’. 

8 (d) NOTIFICATION OF ADMINISTRATOR.—Section 

9 402(d)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

10 U.S.C. 1342(d)(2)) is amended as follows: 

11 (1) By striking ‘‘(2) No’’ and all that follows 

12 through the end of the first sentence and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(2) OBJECTION BY ADMINISTRATOR.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (C), no permit shall issue if— 

17 ‘‘(i) not later than 90 days after the 

18 date on which the Administrator receives 

19 notification under subsection (b)(2)(E), the 

20 Administrator objects in writing to the 

21 issuance of the permit; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) not later than 90 days after the 

23 date on which the proposed permit of the 

24 State is transmitted to the Administrator, 

25 the Administrator objects in writing to the 


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1 issuance of the permit as being outside the 

2 requirements of this Act.’’. 

3 (2) In the second sentence, by striking ‘‘Whenever 

4 the Administrator’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—If the Adminis6 trator’’. 

7 (3) By adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator may 

9 not object to or deny the issuance of a permit by 

10 a State under subsection (b) or (s) based on the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(i) Guidance, as that term is defined 

13 in subsection (s)(1). 

14 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator’s interpreta15 tion of a water quality standard that has 

16 been adopted by the State and approved by 

17 the Administrator under section 303(c).’’. 

18 SEC. 3. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 

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

20 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) The Secretary may issue’’ 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(a) PERMITS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue’’; 

25 and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PERMIT APPLICATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

5 in clause (ii), if an environmental assess6 ment or environmental impact statement, as 

7 appropriate, is required under the National 

8 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

9 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(I) ensure that the environ11 mental review process begins not later 

12 than 90 days after the date on which 

13 the Secretary receives a permit appli14 cation; and 

15 ‘‘(II) approve or deny an applica16 tion for a permit under this subsection 

17 not later than— 

18 ‘‘(aa) if an agency carries 

19 out an environmental assessment 

20 that leads to a finding of no sig21 nificant impact, the date on 

22 which the finding of no signifi23 cant impact is issued; or 

24 ‘‘(bb) if an agency carries 

25 out an environmental assessment 


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1 that leads to a record of decision, 

2 15 days after the date on which 

3 the record of decision on the envi4 ronmental impact statement is 

5 issued. 

6 ‘‘(ii) PROCESSES.—Notwithstanding 

7 clause (i), regardless of whether the Sec8 retary has commenced an environmental as9 sessment or environmental impact statement 

10 by the date described in clause (i)(I), the 

11 following deadlines shall apply: 

12 ‘‘(I) An environmental assessment 

13 carried out under the National Envi14 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

15 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be completed 

16 not later than 1 year after the deadline 

17 for commencing the environmental re18 view process under clause (i)(I). 

19 ‘‘(II) An environmental impact 

20 statement carried out under the Na21 tional Environmental Policy Act of 

22 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be 

23 completed not later than 2 years after 

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1 ronmental review process under clause 

2 (i)(I). 

3 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 

4 fails to act by the deadline specified in clause (i) 

5 or (ii) of subparagraph (A)— 

6 ‘‘(i) the application, and the permit re7 quested in the application, shall be consid8 ered to be approved; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary shall issue a permit 

10 to the applicant; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the permit shall not be subject to 

12 judicial review.’’. 

13 (b) STATE PERMITTING PROGRAMS.—Section 404(c) of 

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

15 1344(c)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(1)’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any permit if 

19 the State in which the discharge originates or will originate 

20 does not concur with the Administrator’s determination 

21 that the discharge will result in an unacceptable adverse 

22 effect as described in paragraph (1).’’. 

23 (c) STATE PROGRAMS.—The first sentence of section 

24 404(g)(1) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(g)(1)) is amended 


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1 by striking ‘‘for the discharge’’ and inserting ‘‘for some or 

2 all of the discharges’’. 

3 (d) DEADLINE FOR AGENCY COMMENTS.—Section 404 

4 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (m) by striking ‘‘ninetieth day’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘30th day (or the 60th day if addi7 tional time is requested)’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (q)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(q)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘(q)(1)’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(2) The Administrator and the head of a department 

13 or agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall each submit 

14 any comments with respect to an application for a permit 

15 under subsection (a) or (e) not later than the 30th day (or 

16 the 60th day if additional time is requested) after the date 

17 of receipt of an application for a permit under that sub18 section.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. IMPACTS OF EPA REGULATORY ACTIVITY ON EM20 PLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. 

21 (a) ANALYSIS OF IMPACTS OF ACTIONS ON EMPLOY22 MENT AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.— 

23 (1) ANALYSIS.—Before taking a covered action, 

24 the Administrator shall analyze the impact, 

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1 ployment levels and economic activity, including esti2 mated job losses and decreased economic activity. 

3 (2) ECONOMIC MODELS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para5 graph (1), the Administrator shall utilize the 

6 best available economic models. 

7 (B) ANNUAL GAO REPORT.—Not later than 

8 December 31 of each year, the Comptroller Gen9 eral of the United States shall submit to Con10 gress a report on the economic models used by 

11 the Administrator to carry out this subsection. 

12 (3) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—With re13 spect to any covered action, the Administrator shall— 

14 (A) post the analysis under paragraph (1) 

15 as a link on the main page of the public Internet 

16 Web site of the Environmental Protection Agen17 cy; and 

18 (B) request that the Governor of any State 

19 experiencing more than a de minimis negative 

20 impact post such analysis in the Capitol of such 

21 State. 

22 (b) PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator con24 cludes under subsection (a)(1) that a covered action 

25 will have more than a de minimis negative impact on 


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1 employment levels or economic activity in a State, the 

2 Administrator shall hold a public hearing in the 

3 State at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the 

4 covered action. 

5 (2) TIME, LOCATION, AND SELECTION.—A public 

6 hearing required under paragraph (1) shall be held at 

7 a convenient time and location for impacted resi8 dents. In selecting a location for such a public hear9 ing, the Administrator shall give priority to locations 

10 in the State that will experience the greatest number 

11 of job losses. 

12 (c) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator concludes 

13 under subsection (a)(1) that a covered action will have more 

14 than a de minimis negative impact on employment levels 

15 or economic activity in a State, the Administrator shall 

16 give notice of such impact to the State’s congressional dele17 gation, Governor, and legislature at least 45 days before the 

18 effective date of the covered action. 

19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi20 nitions apply: 

21 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis22 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ23 mental Protection Agency. 

24 (2) COVERED ACTION.—The term ‘‘covered ac25 tion’’ means any of the following actions taken by the 


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1 Administrator under the Federal Water Pollution 

2 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.): 

3 (A) Issuing a regulation, policy statement, 

4 guidance, response to a petition, or other require5 ment. 

6 (B) Implementing a new or substantially 

7 altered program. 

8 (3) MORE THAN A DE MINIMIS NEGATIVE IM9 PACT.—The term ‘‘more than a de minimis negative 

10 impact’’ means either of the following: 

11 (A) With respect to employment levels, a 

12 loss of more than 100 jobs. Any offsetting job 

13 gains that result from the hypothetical creation 

14 of new jobs through new technologies or govern15 ment employment may not be used in the job loss 

16 calculation. 

17 (B) With respect to economic activity, a de18 crease in economic activity of more than 

19 $1,000,000 over any calendar year. Any offset20 ting economic activity that results from the hy21 pothetical creation of new economic activity 

22 through new technologies or government employ23 ment may not be used in the economic activity 

24 calculation. 


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1 SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORITY TO MODIFY STATE 

2 WATER QUALITY STANDARDS. 

3 (a) STATE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.—Section 

4 303(c)(4) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

5 U.S.C. 1313(c)(4)) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

7 as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4)(A)’’; 

9 (3) by striking ‘‘The Administrator shall pro10 mulgate’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(B) The Administrator shall promulgate’’; and 

12 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A)(ii), the Ad14 ministrator may not promulgate a revised or new standard 

15 for a pollutant in any case in which the State has submitted 

16 to the Administrator and the Administrator has approved 

17 a water quality standard for that pollutant, unless the State 

18 concurs with the Administrator’s determination that the re19 vised or new standard is necessary to meet the requirements 

20 of this Act.’’. 

21 (b) FEDERAL LICENSES AND PERMITS.—Section 

22 401(a) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1341(a)) is amended by add23 ing at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(7) With respect to any discharge, if a State or inter25 state agency having jurisdiction over the navigable waters 

26 at the point where the discharge originates or will originate 


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1 determines under paragraph (1) that the discharge will 

2 comply with the applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 

3 303, 306, and 307, the Administrator may not take any 

4 action to supersede the determination.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. STATE AUTHORITY TO IDENTIFY WATERS WITHIN 

6 ITS BOUNDARIES. 

7 Section 303 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

8 (33 U.S.C. 1313) is amended by striking subsection (d)(2) 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Each State shall submit to the Administrator 

11 from time to time, with the first such submission not later 

12 than 180 days after the date of publication of the first iden13 tification of pollutants under section 304(a)(2)(D), the 

14 waters identified and the loads established under para15 graphs (1)(A), (1)(B), (1)(C), and (1)(D) of this subsection. 

16 The Administrator shall approve the State identification 

17 and load or announce his disagreement with the State iden18 tification and load not later than 30 days after the date 

19 of submission, and if— 

20 ‘‘(i) the Administrator approves the identifica21 tion and load submitted by the State in accordance 

22 with this subsection, such State shall incorporate 

23 them into its current plan under subsection (e); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator announces his disagree25 ment with the identification and load submitted by 


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1 the State in accordance with this subsection, the Ad2 ministrator shall submit, not later than 30 days after 

3 the date on which such announcement is made, to the 

4 State his written recommendation of those additional 

5 waters that he identifies and such loads for such 

6 waters as he believes are necessary to implement the 

7 water quality standards applicable to such waters. 

8 ‘‘(B) Upon receipt of the Administrator’s recommenda9 tion the State shall within 30 days either— 

10 ‘‘(i) disregard the Administrator’s recommenda11 tion in full and incorporate its own identification 

12 and load into its current plan under subsection (e); 

13 ‘‘(ii) accept the Administrator’s recommendation 

14 in full and incorporate its identification and load as 

15 amended by the Administrator’s recommendation into 

16 its current plan under subsection (e); or 

17 ‘‘(iii) accept the Administrator’s recommenda18 tion in part, identifying certain additional waters 

19 and certain additional loads proposed by the Admin20 istrator to be added to such State’s identification and 

21 load and incorporate such State’s identification and 

22 load as amended into its current plan under sub23 section (e). 

24 ‘‘(C)(i) If the Administrator fails to either approve the 

25 State identification and load or announce his disagreement 


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1 with the State identification and load within the time spec2 ified in this subsection, then such State’s identification and 

3 load is deemed approved and such State shall incorporate 

4 the identification and load that it submitted into its current 

5 plan under subsection (e). 

6 ‘‘(ii) If the Administrator announces his disagreement 

7 with the State identification and load but fails to submit 

8 his written recommendation to the State within 30 days 

9 as required by subparagraph (A)(ii) then such State’s iden10 tification and load is deemed approved and such State shall 

11 incorporate the identification and load that it submitted 

12 into its current plan under subsection (e). 

13 ‘‘(D) This paragraph shall apply to any decision made 

14 by the Administrator under this subsection issued on or 

15 after March 1, 2013.’’. 

16 SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF FILL MATERIAL. 

17 Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

18 (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(27) FILL MATERIAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘fill material’ 

22 means any material placed in waters of the 

23 United States where the material has the effect 

24 of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) replacing any portion of a water 

2 of the United States with dry land; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) changing the bottom elevation of 

4 any portion of a water of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fill material’ 

6 includes— 

7 ‘‘(i) rock; 

8 ‘‘(ii) sand; 

9 ‘‘(iii) soil; 

10 ‘‘(iv) clay; 

11 ‘‘(v) plastics; 

12 ‘‘(vi) construction debris; 

13 ‘‘(vii) wood chips; 

14 ‘‘(viii) overburden from mining or 

15 other excavation activities; and 

16 ‘‘(ix) materials used to create any 

17 structure or infrastructure in the waters of 

18 the United States. 

19 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘fill material’ 

20 does not apply to trash or garbage.’’. 

21 SEC. 8. APPLICABILITY OF AMENDMENTS. 

22 Except as otherwise specifically provided, the amend23 ments made by this Act shall apply to actions taken on 

24 or after the date of enactment of this Act, including actions 

25 taken with respect to permit applications pending, or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Sep 18, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5077.RH H5077

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1 vised or new standards in the process of being promulgated, 

2 on such date of enactment. 


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Union Calendar No. 449 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5077 

[Report No. 113–604] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

purposes. issuing new and renewal permits, and for other to provide guidance and clarification regarding 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS