US Congress House Bill 1179 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 66-0)
Status: Introduced on February 16 2017 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2017-02-17 - 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 those 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. Joe Wilson [R-SC]	Rep. David Rouzer [R-NC]	Rep. Patrick Tiberi [R-OH]
Rep. Alexander Mooney [R-WV]	Rep. Dave Brat [R-VA]	Rep. Jeff Duncan [R-SC]	Rep. Ted Yoho [R-FL]
Rep. Mark Amodei [R-NV]	Rep. David Schweikert [R-AZ]	Rep. Rick Allen [R-GA]	Rep. Glenn Grothman [R-WI]
Rep. Todd Rokita [R-IN]	Rep. Jeff Denham [R-CA]	Rep. Michael Conaway [R-TX]	Rep. Jody Arrington [R-TX]
Rep. Scott Perry [R-PA]	Rep. Austin Scott [R-GA]	Rep. Chris Stewart [R-UT]	Rep. Kay Granger [R-TX]
Rep. Andy Biggs [R-AZ]	Rep. Ralph Abraham [R-LA]	Rep. Pete Olson [R-TX]	Rep. James Renacci [R-OH]
Rep. Jim Banks [R-IN]	Rep. Jackie Walorski [R-IN]	Sen. Kevin Cramer [R-ND]	Rep. Trent Franks [R-AZ]
Rep. Trey Hollingsworth [R-IN]	Rep. Devin Nunes [R-CA]	Rep. Sam Johnson [R-TX]	Rep. Paul Cook [R-CA]
Rep. John Carter [R-TX]	Rep. Barry Loudermilk [R-GA]	Rep. Stephen Knight [R-CA]	Rep. Rod Blum [R-IA]
Rep. Andy Harris [R-MD]	Rep. Steve Chabot [R-OH]	Rep. Harold Rogers [R-KY]	Rep. Tom McClintock [R-CA]
Rep. Kenny Marchant [R-TX]	Rep. David Valadao [R-CA]	Rep. Stevan Pearce [R-NM]	Rep. Don Young [R-AK]
Rep. Randy Weber [R-TX]	Rep. Robert Pittenger [R-NC]	Rep. Bruce Westerman [R-AR]	Rep. Roger Williams [R-TX]
Rep. Ken Calvert [R-CA]	Sen. Marsha Blackburn [R-TN]	Rep. Jim Bridenstine [R-OK]	Rep. Dennis Ross [R-FL]
Rep. Bill Flores [R-TX]	Rep. Jason Smith [R-MO]	Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC]	Rep. David McKinley [R-WV]
Rep. Tom Cole [R-OK]	Rep. Mark Meadows [R-NC]	Rep. Trent Kelly [R-MS]	Rep. Steven Palazzo [R-MS]
Rep. Robert Aderholt [R-AL]	Rep. Vicky Hartzler [R-MO]	Rep. David Trott [R-MI]	Rep. Blake Farenthold [R-TX]
Rep. Greg Gianforte [R-MT]	Rep. Ralph Norman [R-SC]

Date	Chamber	Action
2017-02-17	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
2017-02-16	House	Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
2017-02-16	House	Introduced in House

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1179/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1179/BILLS-115hr1179ih.pdf