US Congress House Bill 4149 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 31-0)
Status: Introduced on December 1 2015 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2015-12-02 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Pending: House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements concerning citizen suits. Litigation costs (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) must be awarded to the prevailing party, thus the bill removes a court's discretion to award the fees. A prevailing party is defined as the party that prevails on more than half of the claims at issue. The bill repeals the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny or restrict the use of any area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material when the discharge of such materials would have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas. Current law requires compensatory mitigation to replace the loss of aquatic resource functions in a watershed when a permit to discharge dredged or fill materials into navigable waters has unavoidable impacts on aquatic resources. This bill prohibits government entities from carrying out compensatory mitigation in excess of existing regulatory requirements.

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

Rep. Tom Rice [R-SC]	Rep. Steve Chabot [R-OH]	Rep. Mo Brooks [R-AL]	Rep. Mike D. Rogers [R-AL]
Rep. Ted Yoho [R-FL]	Rep. Rick Allen [R-GA]	Rep. David Schweikert [R-AZ]	Rep. Bill Flores [R-TX]
Rep. Michael Conaway [R-TX]	Rep. Bob Gibbs [R-OH]	Rep. Todd Rokita [R-IN]	Rep. Luke Messer [R-IN]
Rep. Joe Wilson [R-SC]	Rep. Chris Stewart [R-UT]	Rep. Doug LaMalfa [R-CA]	Rep. Steven Palazzo [R-MS]
Rep. Dave Brat [R-VA]	Rep. Mark Meadows [R-NC]	Rep. Mick Mulvaney [R-SC]	Rep. Jeff Duncan [R-SC]
Rep. Alexander Mooney [R-WV]	Rep. David Rouzer [R-NC]	Rep. Matt Salmon [R-AZ]	Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC]
Rep. Scott DesJarlais [R-TN]	Rep. Robert Pittenger [R-NC]	Rep. Randy Weber [R-TX]	Rep. Tom McClintock [R-CA]
Rep. Stephen Knight [R-CA]	Rep. Ron DeSantis [R-FL]	Rep. Louie Gohmert [R-TX]

Date	Chamber	Action
2015-12-02	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
2015-12-01	House	Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
2015-12-01	House	Introduced in House

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4149/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hr4149/BILLS-114hr4149ih.pdf