I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 848 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to incentivize efficient nutrient 

management practices and to clarify the citizen suit provisions of such 

Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

COLLINS of New York, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

CUELLAR, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. LONG, Mrs. 

MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. ROUZER, 

Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. SIMPSON, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. VELA, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. 

YOHO, Mr. NUNES, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. KIND, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of 

Georgia, and Mr. LUETKEMEYER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to incentivize efficient nutrient management practices and to clarify the 

citizen suit provisions of such Act, 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 ‘‘Farm Regulatory Cer5 tainty Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Congress never intended the Solid Waste 

4 Disposal Act (commonly known as the Resource 

5 Conservation and Recovery Act) to govern animal or 

6 crop waste, manure, or fertilizer, or constituents de7 rived from such sources, or the ways in which they 

8 are managed, stored, handled, or applied by agricul9 tural operations. 

10 (2) The Environmental Protection Agency’s 

11 September 1979 regulations promulgated under the 

12 Solid Waste Disposal Act accurately reflect Con13 gress’ intent not to regulate manure and crop resi14 dues under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. 

15 (3) Congress has confidence in the ability of the 

16 Natural Resources Conservation Service and the En17 vironmental Protection Agency to, when appropriate, 

18 implement standards and recommendations for ani19 mal feeding operations (including concentrated ani20 mal feeding operations and large concentrated ani21 mal feeding operations) and other agricultural pro22 ducers, as to appropriate storage and handling tech23 niques for animal and crop waste, manure, and fer24 tilizer, and the constituents derived from such 

25 sources, to reasonably protect water, air, and soil re26 sources, as well as ensure public health. 


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1 (4) Continued judicial misinterpretation of Con2 gress’ intent for the Solid Waste Disposal Act and 

3 the September 1979 rules promulgated under it 

4 could pose a very real threat to the vitality of the 

5 Nation’s agricultural community, which would lead 

6 to serious disruptions in the food supply. 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to clarify the intent of Congress with re9 spect to the purpose and scope of the Solid Waste 

10 Disposal Act, specifically that it was not intended to 

11 regulate animal or crop waste, manure, or fertilizer, 

12 or constituents derived from such sources; and 

13 (2) to provide legal clarity relating to individ14 uals or entities diligently attempting to comply with 

15 State or Federal environmental or resource quality 

16 permits, standards, regulations, conditions, require17 ments, prohibitions, or orders. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SOLID WASTE. 

19 Section 1004(27) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 6903(27)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, or, if origi21 nating from or utilized by an agricultural operation, ani22 mal or crop waste, manure, or fertilizer or constituents 

23 derived from such animal or crop waste, manure, or fer24 tilizer’’ after ‘‘Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended 

25 (68 Stat. 923)’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. CITIZEN SUITS. 

2 Section 7002(b)(1) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 6972(b)(1)) is amended— 

4 (1) in the matter following subparagraph (A), 

5 by striking ‘‘subtitle C of this Act; or’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘subtitle C of this Act;’’; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘order.’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘order; or’’; and 

9 (3) by adding after subparagraph (B) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(C) in the case of an alleged violation by an 

12 agricultural operation— 

13 ‘‘(i) if the Administrator or State is dili14 gently seeking compliance with such permit, 

15 standard, regulation, condition, requirement, 

16 prohibition, or order in a Federal or State ad17 ministrative proceeding; 

18 ‘‘(ii) if the Administrator or State has, 

19 under any other law or regulation— 

20 ‘‘(I) commenced and is diligently pros21 ecuting a civil or criminal action against 

22 such agricultural operation in a court of 

23 the United States or a State to address the 

24 same substance or activity that could oth25 erwise be the subject of an action under 

26 subsection (a)(1)(A) of this section; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) commenced a Federal or State 

2 administrative proceeding against such ag3 ricultural operation to address the same 

4 substance or activity that could otherwise 

5 be the subject of an action under sub6 section (a)(1)(A) of this section; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) if the alleged violation concerns a 

8 substance or activity subject to a State plan ap9 proved under section 4007 of this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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