Congress Introduces Legislation to Expand Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) April 21 introduced the "America's Commitment to Clean Water Act" (H.R. 5088) to "clarify" federal jurisdiction over waters and wetlands under the Clean Water Act.  The bill would remove the term "navigable" from the Act and replace it with the phrase "waters of the United States."  The bill is a revision to previously-introduced legislation, the "Clean Water Restoration Act."  Oberstar said during a press conference that the legislation would ensure that the Clean Water Act covers the same waters it did prior to two U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 2001 and 2006, which placed limits on the reach of federal jurisdiction regulatory agencies were asserting at that time. AGC, along with the broad-based Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC),  has opposed the "Clean Water Restoration Act" and is concerned that the new proposal does not address concerns that the legislation would subject all waters and wet areas, however remote or intermittent, to federal regulations and permitting under the Clean Water Act and delay the construction of buildings and infrastructure nationwide.  For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at (202) 547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.