Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act

The bill was renamed from 'Nationwide Permitting Improvement Act' to 'Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act,' reflecting a much broader scope covering both Section 402 (NPDES) and Section 404 (dredge and fill) permitting, as well as water quality criteria.

Section 6 clarifies that the period during which the Army Corps can prohibit specification of a defined area as a disposal site under Section 404(c) begins when an applicant submits all required information and ends when the permit is issued, reducing uncertainty for applicants.

Section 14 gives force and effect of law to EPA's December 2020 approval of Florida's request to assume Section 404 dredge-and-fill permitting authority, making it a permanent statutory authorization rather than an administrative action subject to challenge.

Section 5(a) narrows the definition of 'compliance with a permit' under Section 402(k). Compliance is now limited to pollutants with effluent limitations in the permit, or pollutants specifically identified as controlled through indicator parameters, or present in waste streams/processes identified during the application. This significantly limits the anti-backsliding provision that previously could be used to enforce unlisted pollutants.

Section 5(c) requires that water quality-based effluent limitations in permits must specify the pollutant and either a numerical discharge limit or precise waterbody conditions to be attained, preventing vague or open-ended requirements.

Section 10 requires EPA and the Army Corps to begin issuing implementation guidance on the 2023 WOTUS rule within 30 days of enactment, with public comment, and any such guidance must comply with the Supreme Court's decision in Sackett v. EPA.

Section 8 establishes a 60-day statute of limitations for challenging Section 404 individual or general permits, requires challengers to have submitted sufficiently detailed comments during the public comment period, and limits court remedies to remand (not vacatur or injunction) unless there is an imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment. Courts must set a deadline not exceeding 180 days for agencies to comply with remand orders.

Section 4 limits NPDES permit terms to a maximum of 10 years for states and municipalities and 5 years for all other persons.

Section 9 prohibits issuing any NPDES permit to a point source owned or operated by an entity subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign country of concern (as defined in the FY2021 NDAA), or a subsidiary of such an entity. This is a national security restriction on water discharge permits.

Section 3 authorizes EPA to issue NPDES general permits for discharges of similar types from similar sources, with a two-year advance notice requirement before letting a general permit expire without replacement. If no notice is given, expired permit terms continue to apply indefinitely until a new permit is issued.

Section 2 requires the EPA Administrator to issue new or revised water quality criteria by rule (formal administrative procedure) rather than informal guidance, and adds such criteria to the list of actions subject to judicial review under Section 509(b)(1).

Section 12 requires EPA and the Army Corps to submit a report to Congress within 60 days on staffing needs for permit processing and the impact of additional funding on processing timelines. Section 13 preserves EPA's authority to conduct PFAS research. Section 11 preserves the Great Lakes oil and gas development ban.