Title: Build More Pipelines Act
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Build More Pipelines Act
The bill provides statutory authority for the rule published on July 13, 2020, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entitled Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule. Under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, an applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct an activity that may result in any discharge into navigable waters must also obtain a certification—or waiver of such certification—from a relevant state, intrastate agency, or Indian tribe that the proposed activity will not violate certain water quality requirements of the state or Indian tribe. The rule revised existing regulations, including by limiting the scope of the certification review process as well as the time frame for a state, interstate agency, or Indian tribe to issue a certification.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8556 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8556

  To enact the Section 401 Certification Rule, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2022

   Mr. Budd (for himself, Mr. Mooney, and Mr. Perry) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To enact the Section 401 Certification Rule, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Build More Pipelines Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
        (33 U.S.C. 1341) is designed to provide States and authorized 
        Indian Tribes an important tool to help protect the water 
        quality of federally regulated waters within their borders, in 
        collaboration with Federal agencies through the cooperative 
        federalism framework of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.);
            (2) in the years preceding the date of enactment of this 
        Act, States have denied water quality certifications under 
        section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
        U.S.C. 1341) for infrastructure projects for reasons other than 
        protecting water quality, such as downstream greenhouse gas 
        emissions;
            (3) natural gas pipelines, coal production, and electric 
        transmissions lines are vital to ensuring that the people of 
        the United States have affordable access to energy;
            (4) fuel scarcity and a lack of sufficient infrastructure 
        to transport natural gas contribute to higher energy prices; 
        and
            (5) other infrastructure projects, such as road 
        construction to support interstate commerce, are in the 
        national interest and warrant regulatory certainty under 
        section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
        U.S.C. 1341).

SEC. 3. ENACTMENT OF THE SECTION 401 CERTIFICATION RULE.

    The final rule of the Environmental Protection Agency entitled 
``Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule'' (85 Fed. Reg. 42210 
(July 13, 2020)) is enacted into law.
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