I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1556 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to modify the definition 
of navigable waters, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2023 
Mrs. MILLER of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to modify 
the definition of navigable waters, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Define WOTUS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NAVIGABLE WATERS. 
(a) NAVIGABLE WATERS DEFINITION.—Section 502 
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1362) is amended by striking paragraph (7) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(7) NAVIGABLE WATERS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘navigable 
waters’ means— 
‘‘(i) the territorial seas; 
‘‘(ii) interstate waters that are used, 
or are susceptible to use in the natural and 
ordinary condition of those waters, as a 
means in transport of interstate or foreign 
commerce; 
‘‘(iii) relatively permanent, standing, 
or continuously flowing bodies of water 
that form geographical features commonly 
known as streams, rivers, or lakes, that 
flow directly into waters described in 
clause (ii); and 
‘‘(iv) wetlands that are adjacent to 
and have a continuous surface water con-
nection to waters described in clause (ii) or 
(iii). 
‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘navigable 
waters’ does not include— 
‘‘(i) intermittent or ephemeral waters, 
including features that flow only in re-
sponse to precipitation or melt from 
snowpack; 
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‘‘(ii) subsurface waters, such as 
groundwater or underground streams, in-
cluding subsurface waters drained through 
subsurface drainage systems, such as drain 
tiling; 
‘‘(iii) intrastate waters, unless the 
waters meet the requirements described in 
subparagraph (A); 
‘‘(iv) a man-made channel or ditch, 
including 
irrigation, 
distribution, 
and 
drainage systems; 
‘‘(v) prior converted cropland; 
‘‘(vi) artificially irrigated areas; 
‘‘(vii) artificial lakes and ponds con-
structed in upland; 
‘‘(viii) water-filled depressions created 
in upland, including water-filled depres-
sions incidental to mining or construction 
activity; 
‘‘(ix) stormwater control features ex-
cavated or constructed in upland to convey, 
treat, infiltrate, or store stormwater run-
off; 
‘‘(x) wastewater recycling structures 
constructed in upland; 
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‘‘(xi) waste treatment systems; 
‘‘(xii) waters that require the use of 
means beyond visual inspection by the 
naked eye, including aerial photographs, 
satellite imaging, or hydrological testing, to 
determine if the waters meets the require-
ments described in subparagraph (A); or 
‘‘(xiii) any other waters that do not 
meet the requirements under subparagraph 
(A), without regard to whether the water— 
‘‘(I) previously met or would have 
met those requirements; or 
‘‘(II) may in the future meet 
those requirements. 
‘‘(C) ASSOCIATED DEFINITIONS.—For the 
purposes of this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) CONTINUOUS
SURFACE
WATER 
CONNECTION.—The term ‘continuous sur-
face water connection’ means a connection 
with respect to which an ordinary person 
would not be able to visually determine by 
the naked eye, by looking at the water sur-
face, where 1 body of water ends and the 
other begins. 
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‘‘(ii) 
RELATIVELY
PERMANENT, 
STANDING, OR
CONTINUOUSLY
FLOWING 
BODIES OF WATER.—The term ‘relatively 
permanent, standing, or continuously flow-
ing bodies of water’ means waters that, ex-
cept in cases of extreme events (such as a 
drought)— 
‘‘(I) stand or have continuous 
flow for not less than 185 days each 
year; and 
‘‘(II) exhibit a bed and banks.’’. 
(b) JURISDICTIONAL DETERMINATION.—Title V of 
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 520 (33 U.S.C. 
1251 note) as section 521; and 
(2) by inserting after section 519 (33 U.S.C. 
1377a) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 520. JURISDICTIONAL DETERMINATIONS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AFFECTED PERSON.—The term ‘affected 
person’ means an applicant for a permit under sec-
tion 404, landowner, or other affected person with 
an identifiable and substantial legal interest in a 
property. 
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‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of the Army. 
‘‘(b) BINDING DETERMINATION.—On written request 
of an affected person, the Secretary shall provide a bind-
ing determination of whether the waters on the property 
of the affected person are navigable waters that meet the 
requirements described in section 502(7)(A)(iv). 
‘‘(c) COSTS.—A determination of the Secretary under 
subsection (b) shall be made at the cost of the Secretary. 
‘‘(d) TIMING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make a 
determination under subsection (b) not later than 60 
days after the date on which the Secretary receives 
a written request from an affected person. 
‘‘(2) EFFECT OF NONRESPONSE.—If the Sec-
retary does not make a determination by the end of 
the period described in paragraph (1), the waters on 
the property of the affected person shall not be con-
sidered to be navigable waters. 
‘‘(e) TERM OF DETERMINATION.— 
‘‘(1) FINDING OF NAVIGABLE WATERS.—If the 
Secretary determines under subsection (b) that the 
waters on the property of the affected person are 
navigable waters, the determination shall be binding 
on the Secretary and the Administrator for a period 
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to be determined by the Secretary, but in any case 
not longer than 5 years after the date of the deter-
mination. 
‘‘(2) FINDING OF NONNAVIGABLE WATERS.—If 
the Secretary determines under subsection (b) that 
the waters on the property of the affected person are 
not navigable waters, the determination shall be 
binding on the Secretary and the Administrator for 
as long as the affected person has an identifiable 
and substantial legal interest in the property. 
‘‘(f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An affected person may ob-
tain expedited judicial review of a determination of 
the Secretary under subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) TIMING.—To obtain expedited judicial re-
view under paragraph (1), the affected person shall 
submit a claim under that paragraph not later than 
30 days after the date on which the Secretary makes 
the determination under subsection (b). 
‘‘(3) JURISDICTION.—A district court of the 
United States with appropriate venue for the State 
in which the affected person resides or in which a 
substantial part of the property of the affected per-
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son is located shall have jurisdiction over an action 
under this subsection.’’. 
Æ 
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