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Farmers and Ranchers Relief Act of 2026
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the scope of an exemption from permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to expand exemptions from permitting requirements for discharges of dredged or fill material
- States Congressional intent that exemptions under section 404(f) of the Clean Water Act be interpreted broadly in favor of not requiring permits for certain discharges
- States Congressional intent that the recapture provision be interpreted narrowly to provide permitting relief to landowners
- Adds a construction clause requiring that exemptions for dredged or fill material be interpreted liberally in favor of not prohibiting discharges or requiring permits
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)
3 cosponsors
- Sen. Armstrong, Alan [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] (R-UT)
- Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE)
Actions (2)
- Jul 13, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. · senate
- Jul 13, 2026 Introduced in Senate
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.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 13, 2026
Ms. Lummis (for herself, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Ricketts) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the scope of an exemption from permits 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 “Farmers and Ranchers Relief Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. INTENT OF CONGRESS.
It is the intent of Congress that, to provide meaningful permitting relief to landowners—
(1) the exemptions under section 404(f)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(f)(1)) for certain discharges of dredged or fill material from the prohibition under that Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) of unpermitted discharge of pollutants (commonly referred to as “section 404(f) exemptions”) be interpreted liberally; and
(2) the recapture provision under section 404(f)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. (f)(2)) be interpreted narrowly.
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF EXEMPTION FOR NON-PROHIBITED DISCHARGE OF DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL.
Section 404(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(f)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking “Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the discharge” and inserting “The discharge”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(3) Construction.—This subsection shall be construed liberally in favor of not prohibiting, and not requiring a permit under this section for, any discharge of dredged or fill material described in paragraph (1).”. <all>
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