On July 16, following a hearing on EPA’s expanded Clean Water Act Permit veto authority, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a markup to move several bills to the full House. Among them were three AGC-supported pieces of legislation designed to improve the process for Clean Water Act permits and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) overall regulatory process. These bills included the Regulatory Certainty Act of 2014, designed to define a clear window for EPA to exercise its veto authority under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. This would address the issue of retroactive vetoes of the permit years after construction had begun as well as preemptive vetoes, removing large swaths of land from development before a permit has even been requested. The measure was introduced by Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio).
Also approved was the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014 requiring the agencies go back to the drawing board on the “Waters of the United States” proposed rule jointly published by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers, and compels open consultation with state and local officials to develop a consensus about those waters for which there is a significant nexus so as to warrant the assertion of federal jurisdiction.. The measure was introduced by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) with bipartisan support.
Rounding out the trio of AGC-supported bills was the Coal Jobs Protection Act of 2014, introduced by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.). This legislation is designed to set predictable limits on Clean Water Act permit review times from the Corps and EPA. It also has provisions to force EPA and the Corps to better factor the economic impacts of their regulations into their rule-writing process.
For more information, please contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.
- Industry Priorities
- Education
- News
- Connect
- Benefits
- Events
- Shop