I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5983 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to restore a national 

minimum standard of protection for the water resources of the United 

States while providing certainty to regulated entities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2023 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BEYER, Ms. 

STANSBURY, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. 

BALINT, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CASAR, Mr. 

CASE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. CROW, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEGETTE, 

Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. 

EVANS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GARCI ́A of 

Illinois, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. 

GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, 

Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEU, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. MAGAZINER, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MENG, Mr. 

MFUME, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 

MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 

PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. 

RASKIN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, 

Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

THANEDAR, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. 

VARGAS, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Ms. WATERS) introduced 

the following bill 


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OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to restore 

a national minimum standard of protection for the water 

resources of the United States while providing certainty 

to regulated entities. 

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 ‘‘Clean Water Act of 

5 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 

8 (1) To reaffirm the commitment of Congress to 

9 restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and bio10 logical integrity of the Nation’s protected water re11 sources. 

12 (2) To clearly define the Nation’s protected 

13 water resources that are subject to the Federal 

14 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1252 et 

15 seq.) (commonly known as the ‘‘Clean Water Act’’) 

16 based on the best available scientific evidence and 


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1 decades of partnership between the Federal, State, 

2 and Tribal governments to protect water quality. 

3 (3) To eliminate the confusion initiated by the 

4 Supreme Court’s overly narrow interpretation of the 

5 term ‘‘navigable waters’’ and to reestablish the com6 prehensive authority necessary to meet the codified 

7 objective of the Clean Water Act. 

8 (4) To restore a national minimum standard of 

9 protection of the Nation’s protected water resources 

10 to the fullest extent of the legislative authority of 

11 Congress under the Constitution. 

12 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

13 Congress finds the following: 

14 (1) Water is a singular and precious resource 

15 that sustains all life and is fundamental to civiliza16 tion’s survival, cultural practices, and indigenous 

17 ways of life. 

18 (2) Clean and abundant water is important for 

19 public health, agriculture, transportation, flood con20 trol, energy production, recreation, fishing, and mu21 nicipal and commercial uses. 

22 (3) Rivers, streams, wetlands, and other water 

23 bodies are hydrologically connected within their wa24 tersheds, and scientific evidence shows that the pol25 lution, impairment, or destruction of a water body in 


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1 one location may significantly affect the chemical, 

2 physical, and biological integrity of other waters. 

3 (4) The Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. 

4 EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (2023), reduces the protections 

5 of the Clean Water Act contrary to, and impairing, 

6 the congressional objective of restoring and main7 taining the chemical, physical, and biological integ8 rity of the Nation’s protected water resources. 

9 (5) The decision eliminates Clean Water Act 

10 protections for tens of millions of acres of wetlands, 

11 including wetlands that perform vital functions such 

12 as storing water to help reduce flooding, improving 

13 water quality by filtering pollutants, providing crit14 ical and important habitats for aquatic and other 

15 species, and recharging groundwater that provides 

16 drinking water and contributes to downstream flows. 

17 (6) The decision also puts at risk Clean Water 

18 Act protections for millions of miles of small, inter19 mittent, and ephemeral streams that— 

20 (A) comprise the majority of stream miles 

21 in the United States; 

22 (B) transport large volumes of water to 

23 downstream rivers; 

24 (C) reduce the introduction of pollutants to 

25 large streams and rivers; 


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1 (D) provide and purify drinking water sup2 plies; 

3 (E) are especially important to the life cy4 cles of aquatic organisms; and 

5 (F) aid in flood prevention. 

6 (7) The peer reviewed scientific literature un7 equivocally demonstrates that— 

8 (A) streams, regardless of their size or fre9 quency of flow, are connected to, and strongly 

10 influence the function of, downstream waters; 

11 and 

12 (B) wetlands, including wetlands that lack 

13 surface water connections, are physically, 

14 chemically, and biologically connected to, and 

15 affect the integrity of, other protected water re16 sources. 

17 (8) Restoring and maintaining the Nation’s 

18 protected water resources, including intrastate 

19 waters, is necessary to prevent significant harm to 

20 interstate commerce and sustain a robust system of 

21 interstate commerce in the future. 

22 (9) This Act restores Clean Water Act protec23 tions to the Nation’s protected water resources to 

24 ensure their chemical, physical, and biological integ25 rity. 


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1 (10) The pollution or other degradation of the 

2 Nation’s protected water resources, individually and 

3 in the aggregate, has a substantial relation to and 

4 effect on interstate commerce. 

5 (11) Protected water resources, including 

6 streams and wetlands, provide protection from flood7 ing, and draining or filling wetlands and channel8 izing or filling streams can cause or exacerbate 

9 flooding, placing a significant burden on interstate 

10 commerce. 

11 (12) Millions of individuals in the United States 

12 depend on the Nation’s protected water resources, 

13 including streams and wetlands, to filter water and 

14 recharge surface and subsurface drinking water sup15 plies, protect human health, and create economic op16 portunity. 

17 (13) Source water protection areas containing 

18 small, intermittent, and ephemeral streams replenish 

19 public drinking water supplies serving more than 

20 110 million individuals in the United States. 

21 (14)(A) Millions of individuals in the United 

22 States enjoy recreational activities that depend on 

23 protected water resources, including streams and 

24 wetlands, such as waterfowl hunting, bird watching, 

25 fishing, paddling, and photography. 


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1 (B) Those activities and associated travel gen2 erate hundreds of billions of dollars of income each 

3 year for the travel, tourism, recreation, and sporting 

4 sectors of the economy of the United States. 

5 (15) Regionally specific protected water re6 sources, such as prairie potholes in the upper Mid7 western prairies, pocosins in the Atlantic coastal 

8 plain, playa lakes in the southern High Plains, and 

9 Carolina and Delmarva bays along the eastern coast 

10 of the United States, provide unique and critical 

11 benefits to their surrounding regions, including sus12 tainable water quality and availability, groundwater 

13 recharge, wildlife habitat, and ecological benefits. 

14 (16) Activities that result in the discharge of 

15 pollutants into the Nation’s protected water re16 sources, including through dredging and filling, are 

17 commercial or economic in nature, and, in the aggre18 gate, have a substantial effect on interstate com19 merce. 

20 (17) Restoring and maintaining the quality of, 

21 and regulating activities affecting, the Nation’s pro22 tected water resources is essential to fulfilling the 

23 United States treaty obligations. 


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1 (18) Restoring and maintaining wetlands and 

2 other protected water resources is essential to North 

3 American wildlife, hunters, and anglers. 

4 (19) Restoring and maintaining the quality of, 

5 and regulating activities affecting, the Nation’s pro6 tected water resources is necessary to protect Fed7 eral land and waters from degradation. 

8 SEC. 4. PROTECTED WATER RESOURCES. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 502 of the Federal Water 

10 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended— 

11 (1) by amending paragraph (7) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(7) PROTECTED WATER RESOURCES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘protected 

15 water resources’ means all waters subject to the 

16 ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, 

17 and all interstate and intrastate waters (and 

18 their tributaries), including lakes, rivers, 

19 streams (including intermittent and ephemeral 

20 streams), wetlands, and all impoundments of 

21 the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these 

22 waters are subject to the legislative power of 

23 Congress under the Constitution. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘protected 

25 water resources’ does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any category of water body or 

2 feature listed in paragraphs (1) through 

3 (8) of section 120.2(b) of title 40, Code of 

4 Federal Regulations, as in effect on March 

5 20, 2023; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) any other category of water body 

7 or feature excluded by the Administrator 

8 in accordance with subparagraph (C). 

9 ‘‘(C) REVIEW AND MODIFICATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Not later 

11 than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

12 the Clean Water Act of 2023, and periodi13 cally thereafter, the Administrator shall, by 

14 rule, review the categories of water body or 

15 feature excluded under subparagraph (B) 

16 to determine, based on the best available 

17 scientific evidence, whether the implemen18 tation of such exclusions, or any individual 

19 exclusion, has a significant cumulative ad20 verse effect on— 

21 ‘‘(I) the chemical, physical, or bi22 ological integrity of— 

23 ‘‘(aa) the waters described 

24 in subparagraph (A); or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) surface waters, other 

2 than those described in subpara3 graph (A), that are sources of 

4 water for public water systems, 

5 as such term is defined in section 

6 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 300f); 

8 ‘‘(II) environmental justice com9 munities; or 

10 ‘‘(III) water resources described 

11 in section 518(e)(2). 

12 ‘‘(ii) MODIFICATIONS AND RE13 MOVAL.—If the Administrator determines 

14 under clause (i) that the implementation of 

15 the exclusions, or any individual exclusion, 

16 under subparagraph (B) has a significant 

17 adverse effect described in clause (i), the 

18 Administrator shall, by rule and concur19 rent with such determination— 

20 ‘‘(I) modify the category of water 

21 body or feature so excluded to ensure 

22 that, based on the best available sci23 entific evidence, the implementation of 

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1 cant cumulative adverse effect de2 scribed in clause (i); or 

3 ‘‘(II) remove such category. 

4 ‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS.—The 

5 Administrator may, by rule, exclude an ad6 ditional category of water body or feature 

7 under subparagraph (B) if the Adminis8 trator determines, based on the best avail9 able scientific evidence, that the implemen10 tation of such additional exclusion will not 

11 have a significant cumulative adverse effect 

12 described in clause (i).’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(28) WETLANDS.—The term ‘wetlands’ means 

15 those areas that are inundated or saturated by sur16 face or ground water at a frequency and duration 

17 sufficient to support, and that under normal cir18 cumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation 

19 typically adapted for life in saturated soil condi20 tions.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL

23 ACT.—The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

24 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (A) in sections 101, 102, 104, 106, 208, 

2 301, 302, 303, 304, 319, 401, 404, 405, and 

3 511(c), by striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each 

4 place it appears and inserting ‘‘protected water 

5 resources’’; 

6 (B) in section 303(c)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

8 ‘‘such waters’’ and inserting ‘‘such pro9 tected water resources’’; and 

10 (ii) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking 

11 ‘‘such waters’’ and inserting ‘‘such pro12 tected water resources’’; 

13 (C) in section 304(l)(1) by striking ‘‘NAVI14 GABLE WATERS’’ in the heading and inserting 

15 ‘‘PROTECTED WATER RESOURCES’’; 

16 (D) in section 305— 

17 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘nav18 igable waters’’ each place it appears and 

19 inserting ‘‘protected water resources’’; and 

20 (ii) in subsection (b)(1)— 

21 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik22 ing ‘‘navigable waters’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘protected water resources’’; and 

24 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

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1 serting ‘‘protected water resources 

2 in’’; 

3 (E) in section 311— 

4 (i) in subsections (a)(11), (b), and 

5 (m), by striking ‘‘navigable waters of the 

6 United States’’ each place it appears and 

7 inserting ‘‘protected water resources’’; and 

8 (ii) in subsections (c) and (j), by 

9 striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each place it 

10 appears and inserting ‘‘protected water re11 sources’’; 

12 (F) in section 312— 

13 (i) in subsections (a) and (b), by 

14 striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each place it 

15 appears and inserting ‘‘protected water re16 sources’’; and 

17 (ii) in subsections (h), (l), and (n), by 

18 striking ‘‘navigable waters of the United 

19 States’’ each place it appears and inserting 

20 ‘‘protected water resources’’; 

21 (G) in section 319, by striking ‘‘such 

22 waters’’ each place it appears and inserting 

23 ‘‘such protected water resources’’; 

24 (H) in section 402— 


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1 (i) in subsection (a)(4), by striking 

2 ‘‘into the navigable waters’’; 

3 (ii) in subsections (b), (g), and (n)(1), 

4 by striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each place 

5 it appears and inserting ‘‘protected water 

6 resources’’; and 

7 (iii) in subsection (n)(2), by striking 

8 ‘‘navigable waters of’’ and inserting ‘‘pro9 tected water resources in’’; 

10 (I) in section 404— 

11 (i) in subsection (f)(2), by striking 

12 ‘‘such waters’’ and inserting ‘‘such pro13 tected water resources’’; and 

14 (ii) in subsection (g)(1)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘those waters’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘those protected water 

17 resources’’; and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘all waters’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘all protected water re20 sources’’; 

21 (J) in paragraphs (11) and (12) of section 

22 502, by striking ‘‘navigable waters’’ each place 

23 it appears and inserting ‘‘protected water re24 sources’’; and 


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1 (K) in section 511(b), by inserting ‘‘as dis2 charges of pollutants into protected water re3 sources’’ after ‘‘shall be regulated’’. 

4 (2) OIL POLLUTION ACT OF 1990.—Section 

5 1001(21) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 

6 U.S.C. 2701(21)) is amended by striking ‘‘waters of 

7 the United States, including the territorial sea’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘protected water resources (as defined in 

9 section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

10 Act)’’. 

Æ 


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