Reform EPA Act

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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reforming EPA Per- 4 mitting Authority Act’’ or the ‘‘Reform EPA Act’’. 5 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 2 •HR 843 IH SEC. 2. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(c) of the Federal 2 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(c)) is 3 amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c)(1)’’; 5 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by in- 6 serting ‘‘during the period described in paragraph 7 (2) and’’ before ‘‘after notice and opportunity for 8 public hearings’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2)(A) The period during which the Adminis- 11 trator may prohibit the specification (including the 12 withdrawal of specification) of any defined area as 13 a disposal site, or deny or restrict the use of any de- 14 fined area for specification (including the withdrawal 15 of specification) as a disposal site, under paragraph 16 (1) shall— 17 ‘‘(i) begin on the date that the Secretary 18 provides notice to the Administrator that the 19 Secretary has completed all procedures for 20 processing an application for a permit under 21 this section relating to the specification and is 22 ready to determine, in accordance with the 23 record and applicable regulations, whether the 24 permit should be issued; and 25 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 3 •HR 843 IH ‘‘(ii) end on the date that the Secretary 1 issues the permit. 2 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall ensure that the period 3 described in subparagraph (A) consists of not fewer 4 than 30 consecutive days. 5 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may issue a permit under 6 this section only after the Secretary provides notice 7 to the Administrator in accordance with this para- 8 graph.’’. 9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub- 10 section (a) shall apply to a permit application submitted 11 under section 404(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Con- 12 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(a)) after the date of enactment 13 of this Act. 14 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