I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3270 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to exempt Indian tribes 
from compensatory mitigation requirements in connection with certain 
discharges of dredged or fill material, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2015 
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska 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 ex-
empt Indian tribes from compensatory mitigation re-
quirements in connection with certain discharges of 
dredged or fill material, 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. EXEMPTION FROM COMPENSATORY MITIGA-
TION REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404 of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(u) INDIAN TRIBES.— 
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‘‘(1) EXEMPTION FROM COMPENSATORY MITI-
GATION
REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding 
any 
other provision of law, an Indian tribe that applies 
for a permit for a permitted activity to be conducted 
on Indian land shall not be required to provide any 
form of compensatory mitigation as a condition of 
the permit. 
‘‘(2) EVALUATION
OF
INDIAN
TRIBE
PERMIT 
APPLICATION.—In evaluating a permit application 
submitted by an Indian tribe to carry a permitted 
activity to be conducted on Indian land, the Sec-
retary may not take into account the nonavailability 
of compensatory mitigation pursuant to the exemp-
tion provided by paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) SITUATIONS
IN
WHICH
INDIAN
TRIBE 
CEASES TO MAINTAIN PERMITTED ACTIVITY.—If an 
Indian tribe described in paragraph (1) ceases to 
maintain the permitted activity on Indian land, or 
seeks to abandon such an activity without a good 
faith transfer, the Indian tribe shall obtain a permit 
modification from the Secretary, which may require 
restoration and rehabilitation of the area. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION
ON
STATUTORY
CONSTRUC-
TION.—The exemption from compensatory mitiga-
tion requirements provided by paragraph (1) may 
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not be construed to affect the applicability of any 
other requirement under this Act to an Indian tribe 
or Indian land, including requirements to avoid and 
minimize adverse impacts to wetlands, streams, and 
other aquatic resources. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol-
lowing definitions apply: 
‘‘(A) INDIAN
LAND.—The term ‘Indian 
land’ means land owned by, operated by, or oth-
erwise belonging to an Indian tribe. 
‘‘(B) INDIAN
TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 
tribe’ means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or 
other organized group or community, including 
any Alaska Native village or regional or village 
corporation as defined in or established pursu-
ant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which is recognized as 
eligible for the special programs and services 
provided by the United States to Indians be-
cause of their status as Indians. 
‘‘(C) PERMITTED
ACTIVITY.—The term 
‘permitted activity’ means a discharge of 
dredged or fill material for which a permit is 
issued under this section.’’. 
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(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to permits issued under section 404 
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1344) after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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