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Judicial Review Timeline Clarity Act
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to judicial review of the issuance of a permit for the discharge of dredged or fill material, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish rules for challenging wetland permits in court. It sets a 60-day deadline for filing lawsuits to challenge dredge and fill permits and requires that only parties who submitted detailed comments during the public comment period can sue, and their lawsuit must relate to their comment. If a court finds a permit was issued improperly, the court must return it to the agency for reconsideration and cannot cancel the permit unless it poses an imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment. The bill also requires courts to set deadlines—no more than 180 days—for agencies to act on court orders.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Burlison, Eric [R-MO-7] (R-MO)
Actions (3)
- Jun 13, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. · house
- Jun 11, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Jun 11, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2025
Mr. Burlison introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to judicial review of the issuance of a permit for the discharge of dredged or fill material, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Judicial Review Timeline Clarity Act”.
SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW TIMELINE CLARITY.
Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (t) as subsection (u);
(2) in subsection (u), as so redesignated, by striking “Nothing in the section” and inserting “Savings Provision.— Nothing in this section”; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (s) the following:
“(t) Judicial Review.—
“(1) Statute of limitations.—Notwithstanding any applicable provision of law relating to statutes of limitations—
“(A) an action seeking judicial review of an individual permit or general permit issued under this section shall be filed not later than the date that is 60 days after the date on which the permit was issued; and
“(B) an action seeking judicial review of a verification that an activity involving a discharge of dredged or fill material is authorized by a general permit issued under this section shall be filed not later than the date that is 60 days after the date on which such verification was issued.
“(2) Limitation on commencement of certain actions.— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no action described in paragraph (1) may be commenced unless the action—
“(A) is filed by a party that submitted a comment—
“(i) during the public comment period for the administrative proceedings related to the applicable action described in such paragraph; and
“(ii) which was sufficiently detailed to put the Secretary or the State, as applicable, on notice of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial review; and
“(B) is related to such comment.
“(3) Remedy.—If a court determines that the Secretary or the State, as applicable, did not comply with the requirements of this section in issuing an individual or general permit under this section, or in verifying that an activity involving a discharge of dredged or fill material is authorized by a general permit issued under this section, as applicable—
“(A) the court shall remand the matter to the Secretary or the State, as applicable, for further proceedings consistent with the determination of the court;
“(B) with respect to a determination regarding the issuance of an individual or general permit under this section, the court may not vacate, revoke, enjoin, or otherwise limit the permit, unless the court finds that activities authorized under the permit would present an imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment for which there is no other equitable remedy available under the law; and
“(C) with respect to a determination regarding a verification that an activity involving a discharge of dredged or fill material is authorized by a general permit issued under this section, the court may not enjoin or otherwise limit the discharge unless the court finds that the activity would present an imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment for which there is no other equitable remedy available under the law.
“(4) Timeline to act on court order.—If a court remands a matter under paragraph (2), the court shall set and enforce a reasonable schedule and deadline, which may not exceed 180 days from the date on which the court remands such matter, except as otherwise required by law, for the Secretary or the State, as applicable, to take such actions as the court may order.”. <all>
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