Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act
Latest action · Feb 17, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 16, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act
This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements concerning citizen suits. Litigation costs (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) must be awarded to the prevailing party, thus the bill removes a court's discretion to award the fees. A prevailing party is defined as the party that prevails on more than half of the claims at issue.
The bill repeals the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny or restrict the use of any area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material when the discharge of those materials would have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas.
Current law requires compensatory mitigation to replace the loss of aquatic resource functions in a watershed when a permit to discharge dredged or fill materials into navigable waters has unavoidable impacts on aquatic resources. This bill prohibits government entities from carrying out compensatory mitigation in excess of existing regulatory requirements.
Cosponsors 65
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 16, 2017 to Oct 10, 2017; 21 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-WV | Alexander X. Mooney | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-AZ | Andy Biggs | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-GA | Austin Scott | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-UT | Chris Stewart | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-VA | Dave Brat | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-NC | David Rouzer | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-AZ | David Schweikert | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-WI | Glenn Grothman | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-CA | Jeff Denham | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-SC | Jeff Duncan | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-TX | Jodey C. Arrington | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-SC | Joe Wilson | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-TX | K. Michael Conaway | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-TX | Kay Granger | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-NV | Mark E. Amodei | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-OH | Patrick J. Tiberi | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-LA | Ralph Lee Abraham | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-GA | Rick W. Allen | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-PA | Scott Perry | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-FL | Ted S. Yoho | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-IN | Todd Rokita | Original | Feb 16, 2017 |
| R-IN | Jackie Walorski | Mar 1, 2017 | |
| R-OH | James B. Renacci | Mar 1, 2017 | |
| R-IN | Jim Banks | Mar 1, 2017 | |
| R-ND | Kevin Cramer | Mar 1, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Pete Olson | Mar 1, 2017 | |
| R-MD | Andy Harris | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-GA | Barry Loudermilk | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-CA | Devin Nunes | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-KY | Harold Rogers | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-TX | John R. Carter | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-CA | Paul Cook | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-IA | Rod Blum | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Sam Johnson | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-CA | Stephen Knight | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-OH | Steve Chabot | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-AZ | Trent Franks | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-IN | Trey Hollingsworth | Mar 7, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Bill Flores | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-AR | Bruce Westerman | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-WV | David B. McKinley | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-CA | David G. Valadao | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-FL | Dennis A. Ross | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-AK | Don Young | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-MO | Jason Smith | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-OK | Jim Bridenstine | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-CA | Ken Calvert | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Kenny Marchant | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-NC | Mark Meadows | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-TN | Marsha Blackburn | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Randy K. Weber, Sr. | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-AL | Robert B. Aderholt | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-NC | Robert Pittenger | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Roger Williams | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-NM | Stevan Pearce | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-MS | Steven M. Palazzo | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-OK | Tom Cole | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-CA | Tom McClintock | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-MS | Trent Kelly | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-NC | Walter B. Jones | Mar 10, 2017 | |
| R-MO | Vicky Hartzler | Mar 20, 2017 | |
| R-MI | David A. Trott | May 4, 2017 | |
| R-TX | Blake Farenthold | May 22, 2017 | |
| R-MT | Greg Gianforte | Aug 15, 2017 | |
| R-SC | Ralph Norman | Oct 10, 2017 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Transportation and Infrastructure Committee | Referred Feb 16, 2017 |
| Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee | Referred Feb 17, 2017 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 17, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
- Feb 16, 2017Introduced in House
- Feb 16, 2017Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 28, February 16, 2017, page H1305.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 4149 | Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act | Reintroduction of | Dec 2, 2015 |
| HR 5341 | Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act | Reintroduced Bill | Dec 9, 2019 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to citizen suits and the specification of disposal sites, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Environmental Protection.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 16, 2017Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
