Bill expands farm waiver from wetland protection rules.
S. 4956 — Farmers and Ranchers Relief Act of 2026 · Filed by Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 13, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill changes the Clean Water Act. It lets farmers and ranchers put dirt and rocks into wetlands without a permit more easily. It tells courts to read the farm waiver broadly. It tells them to read a limiting rule narrowly. This reduces permits needed for farm land work.
Who it affects
Farmers and ranchers would need fewer permits. The public loses some water protections. Wetlands control floods, filter water, and house wildlife. Companies that do land work for farms are also affected.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say what 'broadly' or 'narrowly' means. Courts will decide how to read it, which could change how rules have been enforced for years.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Republicans.
- Jul 13, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 13, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- waiver — A rule that lets someone skip a requirement that normally applies.
- wetlands — Land that is wet or flooded part of the year, like marshes or swamps.
- permit — Official permission from the state or nation to do something.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,200 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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