# 114-hr-2705: Federal Regulatory Certainty for Water Act

114-hr-2705, Federal Regulatory Certainty for Water Act, is a 114th Congress bill sponsored by WILLIAM THORNBERRY (R-TX); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-2705
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 114-hr-2705
- Congress: 114
- Title: Federal Regulatory Certainty for Water Act
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
- Introduced: 2015-06-09
- Sponsor: WILLIAM THORNBERRY (R-TX)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Environmental Protection
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Federal Regulatory Certainty for Water Act This bill nullifies the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Rule signed on May 27, 2015, which describes the scope of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act). Under this bill, the Clean Water Act applies to waters of the United States that are: (1) navigable-in-fact; or (2) permanent or continuously flowing bodies of water that form geographical features commonly known as streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes that are connected to waters that are navigable-in-fact. Under this bill, the Act does not apply to: (1) waters that do not physically abut those waters of the United States through an actual and continuous surface water connection; (2) man-made or natural structures or channels through which water flows intermittently or ephemerally; or (3) wetlands (including playa lakes, prairie potholes, wet meadows, wet prairies, and vernal pools) that lack that continuous surface water connection. The aggregation of wetlands or waters may not be used to determine whether the wetlands or waters are navigable waters.

## Related bills

- 114-hr-6479: Red River Gradient Boundary Survey Act
- 114-hr-6226: PUSH Act of 2016
- 114-hr-5951: Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Spending Act
- 114-hr-5931: Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act
- 114-hr-5734: Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2016
- 114-hr-5631: Iran Accountability Act of 2016

## Sources
- [114-hr-2705 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2705)

## Related
- [114-hr-6479: Red River Gradient Boundary Survey Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-6479)
- [114-hr-6226: PUSH Act of 2016](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-6226)
- [114-hr-5951: Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Spending Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5951)
- [114-hr-5931: Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5931)
- [114-hr-5734: Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2016](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5734)
- [114-hr-5631: Iran Accountability Act of 2016](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5631)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-2705 (as of 2025-11-18).