Sponsors (7)
The bill reduces permitting burdens and clarifies land status to protect agricultural uses, but it narrows federal oversight in ways that may increase wetland loss, downstream pollution and flood risks — shifting potential environmental and fiscal costs onto local communities and taxpayers.
Farmers and owners of prior converted cropland can continue using drained agricultural land (planting, grazing, tailwater storage, etc.) without Clean Water Act permitting, reducing compliance costs and permitting delays for agricultural operations.
Landowners and state governments gain clearer statutory definitions (e.g., 'prior converted cropland', 'abandoned', 'agricultural purpose', 'wetlands'), reducing regulatory uncertainty, disputes, and administrative burden.
Rural communities and farmers retain long‑standing agricultural practices (grazing, haying, conservation idling, tailwater storage) from being regulated as federal waters, preserving agricultural productivity and some conservation/flood‑management practices.
Taxpayers and downstream communities could face increased costs from degraded water quality and greater flood impacts if narrowed jurisdiction results in loss of wetland services that otherwise reduce pollution and flooding.
Local governments and rural communities may face greater risk of downstream pollution and flooding because the bill limits EPA and Army Corps authority to regulate certain change‑in‑use decisions.
Areas that have reverted to wetlands could lose Clean Water Act protections while similar non‑abandoned converted croplands remain excluded, potentially allowing activities that harm water quality and wetland functions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Excludes pre-1985 converted cropland from the statutory definition of waters of the United States, adds related definitions, and bars agencies from applying the 2023 change-in-use policy to that cropland.
Official title: Amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to exclude prior converted cropland from the definition of "navigable waters", and for other purposes.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Marion Michael Rounds · Last progress February 27, 2025
Revises the federal definition of “navigable waters” to explicitly exclude “prior converted cropland,” adds detailed definitions for terms like “prior converted cropland,” “agricultural purpose,” “abandoned,” and “wetlands,” and blocks EPA and Army Corps officials from applying the agencies’ January 18, 2023 change-in-use policy (or substantially similar policies) to prior converted cropland. The change narrows when wetlands and other waters qualify for Clean Water Act jurisdiction where land was converted for farming before December 23, 1985, while preserving a wetland definition and procedures for determining abandonment.