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Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 1
Remove CWA Section 404 Recapture Provision for Farm Activities
Removes the "recapture" clause that could pull farm and ranch land-disturbing activities back under Clean Water Act (CWA) permit requirements, and requires the remaining exemptions to be read as broadly as possible in favor of landowners.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects the roughly 2–3 million U.S. farm and ranch operations whose land-disturbing activities were previously vulnerable to recapture under Section 404(f)(2), a substantial but sub-25% share of the national population.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized, appropriated, or obligated by this bill.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Excises a standing statutory prohibition — the recapture clause — that had converted otherwise-exempt activities into permit-required ones, and replaces it with a binding substantive construction rule that shifts the default legal outcome for all covered landowners permanently.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The mandatory liberal-construction rule and the elimination of the recapture clause constrain rather than expand agency or judicial discretion, leaving Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers with narrower interpretive room than before.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Eliminates a category of permit enforcement proceedings that agencies previously could initiate under the recapture clause, reducing case-by-case adjudicative load while creating interpretive litigation over the new construction mandate's boundaries.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress affirmatively acts to restore the recapture provision or amend the construction rule.
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Summary
This bill changes how the Clean Water Act (CWA) treats farmers, ranchers, and other landowners who move dirt or fill material on their land. Under current law, certain farm and ranch activities are already exempt from needing a federal permit, but a "recapture" clause can pull those activities back under permit requirements. This bill removes that recapture clause and directs courts and agencies to read the exemptions broadly and the recapture rule narrowly, making it easier for landowners to work their land without a federal permit.
AI-generated summary, pending human review.
| Version | Event | Date | User support | Your vote | Roll calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original |
Initial publication
Jul 13, 2026
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Jul 13, 2026 | No votes yet | — | — |
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Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 1
Remove CWA Section 404 Recapture Provision for Farm Activities
Removes the "recapture" clause that could pull farm and ranch land-disturbing activities back under Clean Water Act (CWA) permit requirements, and requires the remaining exemptions to be read as broadly as possible in favor of landowners.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects the roughly 2–3 million U.S. farm and ranch operations whose land-disturbing activities were previously vulnerable to recapture under Section 404(f)(2), a substantial but sub-25% share of the national population.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized, appropriated, or obligated by this bill.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Excises a standing statutory prohibition — the recapture clause — that had converted otherwise-exempt activities into permit-required ones, and replaces it with a binding substantive construction rule that shifts the default legal outcome for all covered landowners permanently.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The mandatory liberal-construction rule and the elimination of the recapture clause constrain rather than expand agency or judicial discretion, leaving Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers with narrower interpretive room than before.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Eliminates a category of permit enforcement proceedings that agencies previously could initiate under the recapture clause, reducing case-by-case adjudicative load while creating interpretive litigation over the new construction mandate's boundaries.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress affirmatively acts to restore the recapture provision or amend the construction rule.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Remove CWA Section 404 Recapture Provision for Farm Activities
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