Sponsors
Last progress June 11, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 11, 2025 by Mike Collins
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Allows the Administrator to issue federal general permits on a State, regional, nationwide, or defined-area basis for similar types of discharges from similar sources, and creates a notice-and-continuation rule for expiring general permits. If the Administrator decides not to reissue a general permit, a Federal Register notice must be published at least two years before the permit would expire; if no such notice is published, the expired permit’s terms continue until a replacement is issued or until two years after a later notice of a decision not to reissue is published.
Authorizes the Administrator to issue general permits under Section 402(a) on a State, regional, nationwide, or for a delineated area basis for discharges associated with any category of activities, where those discharges are of similar types and from similar sources.
If the Administrator will not issue a new general permit to replace an expiring general permit that covered similar discharges, the Administrator must publish a notice of that decision in the Federal Register at least two years before the expiration of the existing general permit.
If a general permit expires and the Administrator has not published the two-year notice (described above), the Administrator must continue to apply the terms, conditions, and and requirements of the expired general permit to any discharge that was covered by that expired permit.
In the same situation (expired permit and no prior two-year notice), the Administrator must also apply the terms, conditions, and requirements of the expired permit to any discharge that would have been covered by that expired permit (under applicable coverage requirements) if the discharge had occurred before the expiration.
Defines the date when the continued application of an expired general permit ends as the earlier of: (I) the date the Administrator issues a new general permit for similar discharges, or (II) the date that is two years after the Administrator publishes in the Federal Register a notice of a decision not to issue a new general permit.
Who is affected and how:
Regulated dischargers (municipal wastewater treatment plants, industrial facilities, and other point source dischargers) — More predictable permit continuity; they may be covered by federal general permits issued on broader geographic scales and face a clearer rule preventing permit gaps.
Publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and small municipalities — Benefit from reduced risk of lapses in authorization when a general permit expires; could face federal rather than state general permit conditions where the Administrator elects federal coverage.
State governments and state permitting authorities — May see a change in the allocation of permitting authority if the Administrator issues federal general permits covering areas/states; could raise coordination or preemption concerns.
The Administrator / federal permitting agency — Gains explicit statutory authority to issue federal general permits and must follow the new notice and continuation requirements, increasing certain procedural duties (publication timing) but providing a clear continuity mechanism.
Environmental and community stakeholders — Experience impacts indirectly: continuity reduces short-term legal/regulatory uncertainty, but the use of federal general permits at broader scales may raise questions about local tailoring and oversight.
Overall effect: The change is largely administrative and procedural — it clarifies federal authority to issue general permits and establishes a notice/continuation regime to prevent lapses in permit coverage. That reduces uncertainty for permittees but may shift or clarify federal-state roles in permitting, which could prompt coordination issues or policy discussion about local control and oversight.