A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify certain activities that would have been authorized under Nationwide Permit 12 and other Nationwide Permits, and for other purposes.

Bill: 116-s-4402
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2020-08-03
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Army Corps of Engineers

Endangered and threatened species

Licensing and registrations

Water quality

Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Latest action: action_date: 2020-08-03
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-08-03
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill provides statutory authority under the Clean Water Act for activities authorized in the reissued final rule titled<em> Issuance and Reissuance of Nationwide Permits</em> and specifies requirements and criteria for subsequent reissuances of such permits. Nationwide permits are issued for periods of up to five years by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to authorize activities that have minimal individual and cumulative adverse environmental effects.</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4402 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES August 3, 2020 Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Barrasso , Mrs. Capito , Mr. Cramer , Mr. Cruz , Mr. Daines , Mr. Hoeven , Mr. Inhofe , Mr. Lankford , Ms. Murkowski , and Mr. Tillis ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify certain activities that would have been authorized under Nationwide Permit 12 and other Nationwide Permits, and for other purposes.

1. Activities under nationwide permit 12 and other nationwide permits Section 404(e) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1344(e) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (3) Authorized activities (A) In general Subject to subparagraph (B) and notwithstanding the consultation requirements under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1536 ), each activity authorized by the Secretary under the Nationwide Permits, as reissued in the final rule of the Secretary entitled Issuance and Reissuance of Nationwide Permits (82 Fed. Reg. 1860 (January 6, 2017)), and any subsequent reissuances of the Nationwide Permits, shall be considered authorized if— (i) the Secretary and the non-Federal applicant seeking to carry out the activity comply with all other applicable Nationwide Permit requirements; and (ii) for activities for which the submission of a pre-construction notification is required pursuant to general condition 18, as described in the final rule or any subsequent reissuance of the Nationwide Permits, the Secretary— (I) makes a written determination that the activity will have no effect on— (aa) a species listed as a threatened species or an endangered species under section 4 of that Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1533 ); or (bb) land designated as a critical habitat under that Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or (II) documents that the Secretary relied on and incorporated all applicable species- and activity-specific conditions and measures determined to be appropriate by the Secretary from any consultation carried out under section 7 of that Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1536 ). (B) Termination The authority provided under this paragraph terminates on March 18, 2026. .