Farmers and Ranchers Relief Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4956 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4956

 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.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   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).''.
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