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CURRENT Act
Introduced Jul 22, 2026 · Last action Jul 22, 2026 — Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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Summary
This legislation is called the CURRENT Act. Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Full bill text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9855 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9855
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make certain
reforms with respect to permits and licenses under such Act, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2026
Mr. Gray (for himself and Mr. Rouzer) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make certain
reforms with respect to permits and licenses under such Act, 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 ``Certainty and Uniform Reviews for
Reliable Energy and Transmission Act'' or the ``CURRENT Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 401 OF THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL ACT.
Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1341) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking
``may result'' and inserting ``may directly
result'';
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking
``activity'' and inserting ``discharge'';
(iii) in the third sentence, by striking
``applications'' each place it appears and
inserting ``requests'';
(iv) by inserting after the fourth sentence
the following: ``Not later than 30 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, each State
and interstate agency that has authority to
give such a certification, and the
Administrator, shall publish requirements for
certification to demonstrate to such State,
such interstate agency, or the Administrator,
as the case may be, compliance with the
applicable provisions of sections 301, 302,
303, 306, and 307. A decision to grant or deny
a request for certification shall be based only
on compliance with the applicable provisions of
sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307, and the
grounds for the decision shall be set forth in
writing and provided to the applicant. Not
later than 90 days after receipt of a request
for certification, the State, interstate
agency, or Administrator, as the case may be,
shall identify in writing all specific
additional materials or information necessary
for the request for certification to be
complete, as described in subsection (f). The
State, interstate agency, or the Administrator,
as the case may be, may grant a request for
certification with or without conditions, deny
a request for certification, or waive the
requirement for certification under this
subsection with respect to such Federal
application.'';
(v) in the fifth sentence, by striking
``act on a request for certification, within a
reasonable period of time (which shall not
exceed one year) after receipt of such request,
the certification requirements of this
subsection'' and inserting ``grant the request
for certification with or without conditions,
deny the request for certification, or waive
the requirement for certification under this
subsection with respect to such Federal
application, within a reasonable period of time
to be determined by the licensing or permitting
agency (which shall not exceed one year after
receipt of such request), the requirement for
certification under this subsection'';
(vi) by inserting after the fifth sentence
the following: ``For purposes of this
paragraph, receipt of a request for
certification shall be determined by the date
on which the State, interstate agency, or
Administrator, as the case may be, receives the
request, regardless of whether the State,
interstate agency, or Administrator deems the
request complete. The requirement that the
period determined by the licensing or
permitting agency may not exceed one year shall
be absolute and may not be tolled, paused, or
extended for any reason, including through
requests for additional information,
solicitation of public comment, or
environmental reviews, except that the agency
may extend the period at the request of the
applicant.''; and
(vii) in the sixth sentence, by striking
``waived as provided in the preceding
sentence'' and inserting ``waived under this
paragraph'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in the second sentence, by striking
``notice of application for such Federal
license or permit'' and inserting ``receipt of
a notice under the preceding sentence'';
(ii) in the third sentence--
(I) by striking ``any water quality
requirement in such State'' and
inserting ``any water quality standard
in effect for the State under section
303''; and
(II) by inserting before the period
``at a time that is agreed to by such
State and the applicant'';
(iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking
``insure compliance with applicable water
quality requirements.'' and inserting ``ensure
compliance with the applicable provisions of
sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307.'';
(iv) in the final sentence, by striking
``insure'' and inserting ``ensure'';
(v) by striking the first sentence and
inserting ``On receipt of a request for
certification, the certifying State or
interstate agency, as applicable, shall
immediately notify the Administrator of the
request.''; and
(vi) by inserting after the second sentence
the following: ``If the Administrator
determines under the preceding sentence that
such a discharge will not affect the waters of
any other State, no such notification is
required.'';
(C) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking
``there will be compliance'' and inserting
``any such discharge will comply''; and
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking
``section'' and inserting ``any applicable
provision of section'';
(D) in paragraph (4)--
(i) in the first sentence--
(I) by inserting ``directly''
before ``result in any discharge''; and
(II) by striking ``applicable
effluent limitations or other
limitations or other applicable water
quality requirements will not be
violated'' and inserting ``no
applicable provision of section 301,
302, 303, 306, or 307 will be
violated'';
(ii) in the second sentence, by striking
``will violate applicable effluent limitations
or other limitations or other water quality
requirements'' and inserting ``will directly
result in a discharge that violates an
applicable provision of section 301, 302, 303,
306, or 307,''; and
(iii) in the third sentence, by striking
``such facility or activity will not violate
the applicable provisions'' and inserting
``operation of such facility or activity will
not directly result in a discharge that
violates any applicable provision''; and
(E) in paragraph (5)--
(i) by striking ``the applicable
provisions'' and inserting ``any applicable
provision''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``A certification obtained under this section
may not be reopened, modified, supplemented,
withdrawn, or otherwise revised except in
response to a request by the applicant or an
order by a court of jurisdiction that is
specific to the certification.'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``Nothing in this
section'' and inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (e),
nothing in this section'';
(3) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
``(d) Conditions.--
``(1) In general.--Any certification provided under this
section shall set forth any effluent limitations and other
limitations, and monitoring requirements necessary to assure
that any discharge subject to this section will comply with the
applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307,
and any such limitations or requirements shall be imposed by
the licensing or permitting agency as a condition on any
Federal license or permit subject to the provisions of this
section.
``(2) Requirements for denials and conditioned
certifications.--The State, interstate agency, or the
Administrator, as the case may be, may not deny a request for
certification with respect to an application for a Federal
license or permit under subsection (a), or impose a condition
on such license or permit, unless the State, interstate agency,
or the Administrator, as applicable, demonstrates, by clear and
convincing evidence, that--
``(A) there is no reasonable condition upon the
activity proposed to be carried out under such license
or permit that meets the requirements of this paragraph
that could make it possible for the discharge subject
to this section to comply with the applicable
provisions of section 301, 302, 303, 306, or 307 of
this Act; or
``(B) such a condition--
``(i) is the least burdensome of possible
conditions, taking into account--
``(I) technical feasibility;
``(II) cost;
``(III) the purposes of the
proposed activity;
``(IV) impacts of the condition on
the schedule for such proposed
activity; and
``(V) the commercial viability of
such proposed activity; and
``(ii) is consistent with the requirements
of the Federal license or permit that is the
subject of the certification.
``(3) Enforcement.--Notwithstanding section 505, any
condition imposed on a Federal license or permit by a licensing
or permitting agency under this section may be enforced only by
such licensing or permitting agency.
``(4) Exception for hydroelectric projects.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a certification provided under
this section may not include conditions relating to the
quantity, timing, or rate of water flow over, through, or
around a hydroelectric project.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Applicable Provisions.--For purposes of this section, the
applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 are any
applicable effluent limitations and other limitations under section 301
or 302, any water quality standard in effect for a State under section
303, any standard of performance under section 306, and any
prohibition, effluent standard, or pretreatment standard under section
307.
``(f) Requirements for Requests for Certification.--A request for
certification under this section shall be made in writing to the State,
interstate agency, or Administrator, as the case may be. A complete
request for certification shall consist of the following:
``(1) Identification of each applicant for the Federal
license or permit with respect to which the certification is
requested.
``(2) A statement that information included in the request
for certification is truthful, accurate, and complete, to the
best knowledge of each such applicant.
``(3) In the case of a request for certification with
respect to an individual permit or license--
``(A) identification of the Federal license or
permit that is the subject of the application with
respect to which the certification is requested;
``(B) identification of any activity the conduct of
which is subject to such Federal license or permit;
``(C) identification of the location and nature of
any discharge that may directly result from such
activity, and the location of the receiving waters;
``(D) a description of means that may be used to
monitor, control, or manage any such discharge; and
``(E) a list of all other Federal, interstate,
Tribal, State, or local agency authorizations required
for the conduct of such activity, and any approval or
denial of such an authorization already received.
``(4) In the case of a request for certification with
respect to the issuance of a general license or general
permit--
``(A) identification of the proposed categories of
activities to be covered by the general license or
general permit for which certification is requested;
``(B) a description of the proposed general license
or general permit, which may include a draft of the
proposed general license or permit; and
``(C) an estimate of the number of discharges
expected to result from the proposed general license or
general permit annually.
``(g) Judicial Review.--
``(1) Affected certification actions.--This subsection
shall apply to any civil action for the review of a
certification action with respect to an applicant for a license
or permit--
``(A) for the construction or operation of
facilities for the transmission of electric energy or
energy fuels or the transportation of carbon dioxide
(including pipelines or associated infrastructure) in
interstate or foreign commerce; or
``(B) from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
``(2) Jurisdiction.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding section 19(d)(1)
of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717r(d)(1)), a civil
action subject to this subsection shall be filed in a
court of appeals of the United States--
``(i) for the circuit in which the
applicant is located or has its place of
business;
``(ii) for the circuit for the State for
which the certification action applies; or
``(iii) for the District of Columbia
Circuit.
``(B) Original and exclusive jurisdiction.--A court
of appeals described in subparagraph (A) shall have
original and exclusive jurisdiction over the civil
action.
``(3) Expedited consideration.--A court described in
paragraph (2) shall--
``(A) set any civil action subject to this
subsection for expedited consideration; and
``(B) issue a final decision not later than 120
days after the filing of the civil action, unless the
court finds extraordinary circumstances, in which case
the court may take up to 60 additional days to issue a
final decision.
``(4) Standard of review.--A court shall hold unlawful a
denial of certification under this section if the State,
interstate agency, or Administrator, as the case may be, fails
to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that no
reasonable condition upon the applicant's activity that meets
the requirements of subsection (d)(2) exists that could make it
possible for the activity to avoid violating the applicable
provisions of section 301, 302, 303, 306, or 307 of this
Act.''.
<all>Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).
Official source
View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.
Status
In Committee
- 1Introduced
- 2Committee
- 3Floor
- 4Passed
- 5Signed
Timeline reflects current normalized status only. Full action history is not yet stored in the API.
Sponsors
- Rep. Gray, Adam [D-CA-13]DHouseCA
Cosponsors
Votes
Voting records are not yet available for this bill.