PERMIT Act — Clean Water Act Navigable Waters Redefinition
Current understanding
The PERMIT Act (HR3898) would statutorily narrow Clean Water Act jurisdiction by redefining ‘navigable waters’ to explicitly exclude waste treatment systems, ephemeral precipitation-driven features, prior converted cropland, groundwater, and other features the Army Corps of Engineers determines are excluded. If enacted, it would codify exclusions that have shifted across administrations and Supreme Court rulings (e.g., Sackett v. EPA), potentially reducing federal permitting burdens on farmers and landowners while shifting more water-quality oversight to states. Status: introduced.
Evidence log
- 2025-12-15 — PERMIT Act: cross-connection with prior-converted-cropland-cwa-exclusion: The PERMIT Act is the legislative vehicle that would codify the prior converted cropland exclusion as one of several statutory carve-outs from CWA jurisdiction. (novelty: 3)