States lose water protection power in energy permitting overhaul
H.R. 3928 — Improving Water Quality Certifications and American Energy Infrastructure Act · Filed by David Rouzer (R-NC) · Introduced Jun 11, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Clean Water Act's Section 401 water quality certification process by narrowing the scope of what states can consider when reviewing federal permits for energy and infrastructure projects. It requires states to base certification decisions only on five specific sections of the Clean Water Act (301, 302, 303, 306, 307) and establishes strict timelines and procedural requirements. The bill limits states' ability to impose conditions beyond those sections and requires them to identify needed information within 90 days, effectively streamlining federal permitting for energy infrastructure at the expense of broader state water-protection authority.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a procedural and jurisdictional narrowing of state water quality certification authority under the Clean Water Act, designed to accelerate federal permitting for energy and infrastructure projects by limiting the grounds on which states can impose conditions or deny certification.
What the text implies
- States lose ability to condition permits on compliance with state water quality standards beyond the five enumerated sections, eliminating a primary tool for protecting drinking water sources and aquatic ecosystems from cumulative impacts.
- The 90-day deadline for identifying needed information may force states to approve permits with incomplete data, shifting burden of proof from applicants to regulators.
- Narrowing certification to sections 301–307 excludes consideration of section 404 (wetlands), section 311 (oil spills), and section 316 (thermal pollution), reducing protection for sensitive habitats.
- The requirement that decisions be 'based only on' five sections may prevent states from denying certification on grounds of cumulative watershed impacts or climate resilience, even if those concerns affect designated uses.
- Federal projects (dams, locks, navigation channels) may face reduced scrutiny if states interpret the amendment to apply to federal agency certifications as well as private applicants.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens lose state-level water quality protections by having state certification authority narrowed to five specific statutory sections, eliminating consideration of broader state water law and other Clean Water Act tools. Energy and infrastructure projects gain faster permitting with fewer conditions, shifting environmental risk from project developers to downstream communities and water users.
Who stands to gain
- energy infrastructure developers
- pipeline and transmission companies
- hydroelectric and dam operators
- natural gas and oil producers
- construction and engineering firms
Named in the bill
Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Section 401 (water quality certification), Sections 301, 302, 303, 306, 307 (Clean Water Act), State environmental agencies, Interstate water agencies, EPA Administrator, Energy infrastructure projects
Where it stands
- Jun 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 11, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $54,660,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 254 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
David Rouzer, the sponsor, reported $1,292,375 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 on 3 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,483 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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