I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 843 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify when the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority 
to prohibit the specification of a defined area, or deny or restrict the 
use of a defined area for specification, as a disposal site under section 
404 of such Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2019 
Mr. GIBBS (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. ROUZER) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify 
when the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency has the authority to prohibit the specification 
of a defined area, or deny or restrict the use of a 
defined area for specification, as a disposal site under 
section 404 of such Act, 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 ‘‘Reforming EPA Per-
mitting Authority Act’’ or the ‘‘Reform EPA Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:11 Feb 06, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H843.IH
H843
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
SEC. 2. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(c) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(c)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(1)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by in-
serting ‘‘during the period described in paragraph 
(2) and’’ before ‘‘after notice and opportunity for 
public hearings’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) The period during which the Adminis-
trator may prohibit the specification (including the 
withdrawal of specification) of any defined area as 
a disposal site, or deny or restrict the use of any de-
fined area for specification (including the withdrawal 
of specification) as a disposal site, under paragraph 
(1) shall— 
‘‘(i) begin on the date that the Secretary 
provides notice to the Administrator that the 
Secretary has completed all procedures for 
processing an application for a permit under 
this section relating to the specification and is 
ready to determine, in accordance with the 
record and applicable regulations, whether the 
permit should be issued; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:11 Feb 06, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H843.IH
H843
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
‘‘(ii) end on the date that the Secretary 
issues the permit. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall ensure that the period 
described in subparagraph (A) consists of not fewer 
than 30 consecutive days. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary may issue a permit under 
this section only after the Secretary provides notice 
to the Administrator in accordance with this para-
graph.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to a permit application submitted 
under section 404(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Con-
trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(a)) after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:11 Feb 06, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H843.IH
H843
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS