Flood Reduction, Wildlife Habitat, and Water Quality Improvement Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2410 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to modify the requirements for permits for dredged or fill material, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 31, 2019 Mrs. HYDE-SMITH (for herself and Mr. WICKER) 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 modify the requirements for permits for dredged or fill material, 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 ‘‘Flood Reduction, Wild- 4 life Habitat, and Water Quality Improvement Act of 5 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 7 Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 8 Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2410.IS S2410 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2410 IS (1) in subsection (c)— 1 (A) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘The 2 Administrator’’ and inserting the following: 3 ‘‘(5) FINDINGS.—The Administrator’’; 4 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 5 ‘‘Before making such determination’’ and in- 6 serting the following: 7 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—Before making a deter- 8 mination under paragraph (1)’’; 9 (C) by striking the subsection designation 10 and all that follows through ‘‘The Adminis- 11 trator’’ in the first sentence and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF SPECIFICATION OF AREAS AS 14 DISPOSAL SITES.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 16 the Administrator’’; 17 (D) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so 18 designated) the following: 19 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—The Administrator may 20 not prohibit the specification of a defined area as a 21 disposal site, or otherwise deny or restrict the use of 22 a defined area as a disposal site— 23 ‘‘(A) if the area is or contains a project of 24 the Secretary for flood control; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2410.IS S2410 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2410 IS ‘‘(B) before an application for a permit 1 under this section for the area has been filed; 2 or 3 ‘‘(C) after a permit under this section for 4 the area has been issued by the Secretary. 5 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A regional office of the 6 Administrator shall— 7 ‘‘(A) before considering a determination 8 under paragraph (1), obtain the approval of the 9 Administrator; and 10 ‘‘(B) before publishing notice of a proposed 11 determination under paragraph (1) for the area 12 of a project, review, consider, and adequately 13 refute the findings of an environmental impact 14 statement for the project pursuant to the Na- 15 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).’’; and 17 (E) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(6) IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF PRIOR DE- 19 TERMINATIONS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 21 other provision of law, a determination made by 22 the Administrator under paragraph (1) with re- 23 spect to the area of a project that is or contains 24 a project of the Secretary for flood control be- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2410.IS S2410 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2410 IS fore the date of enactment of the Flood Reduc- 1 tion, Wildlife Habitat, and Water Quality Im- 2 provement Act of 2019 shall no longer apply 3 if— 4 ‘‘(i) a more practicable alternative to 5 the project has not been identified; and 6 ‘‘(ii) as a result of a delay in con- 7 struction of the project, severe flooding 8 and damage to life and property have oc- 9 curred. 10 ‘‘(B) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding 11 any other provision of law, an action taken by 12 the Secretary to advance a project described in 13 subparagraph (A) shall not be subject to judi- 14 cial review.’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (r), by striking ‘‘under section 16 307),’’ and all that follows through the period at the 17 end and inserting ‘‘under section 307).’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2410.IS S2410 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS