# 116-hr-5341: Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

116-hr-5341, Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act, is a 116th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7] (R-SC); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-5341
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 116-hr-5341
- Congress: 116
- Title: Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
- Introduced: 2019-12-06
- Sponsor: Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7] (R-SC)
- Cosponsors: 30
- Policy area: Environmental Protection
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act This bill revises requirements concerning (1) citizen suits under the Clean Water Act, (2) permits for wetlands, and (3) wetland mitigation. Litigation costs (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) must be awarded to the prevailing party, thus the bill removes a court's discretion to award the fees. A prevailing party is defined as the party that prevails on more than half of the claims at issue. In addition, the bill repeals the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny or restrict the use of any area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material when the discharge of those materials would have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas. Finally, the bill revises mitigation requirements. Current law requires compensatory mitigation to replace the loss of aquatic resource functions in a watershed when a permit to discharge dredged or fill materials into navigable waters has unavoidable impacts on aquatic resources. This bill prohibits government entities from carrying out compensatory mitigation in excess of existing regulatory requirements.

## Cosponsors (30)

- Rep. Amodei, Mark E. [R-NV-2] (R-NV), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-41] (R-CA), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Duncan, Jeff [R-SC-3] (R-SC), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Flores, Bill [R-TX-17] (R-TX), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gianforte, Greg [R-MT-At Large] (R-MT), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Harris, Andy [R-MD-1] (R-MD), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hartzler, Vicky [R-MO-4] (R-MO), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hollingsworth, Trey [R-IN-9] (R-IN), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kelly, Trent [R-MS-1] (R-MS), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Marchant, Kenny [R-TX-24] (R-TX), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Meadows, Mark [R-NC-11] (R-NC), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mooney, Alexander X. [R-WV-2] (R-WV), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Norman, Ralph [R-SC-5] (R-SC), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Olson, Pete [R-TX-22] (R-TX), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Palazzo, Steven M. [R-MS-4] (R-MS), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Perry, Scott [R-PA-10] (R-PA), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7] (R-NC), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Scott, Austin [R-GA-8] (R-GA), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2] (R-UT), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Walorski, Jackie [R-IN-2] (R-IN), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Yoho, Ted S. [R-FL-3] (R-FL), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Young, Don [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. King, Steve [R-IA-4] (R-IA), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] (R-PA), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brooks, Mo [R-AL-5] (R-AL), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gibbs, Bob [R-OH-7] (R-OH), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Smith, Adrian [R-NE-3] (R-NE), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX), 2019-12-06T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 116-hr-3495: Improve Well-Being for Veterans Act
- 116-hr-4305: PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act
- 116-hr-1865: Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020
- 116-hr-748: CARES Act
- 116-hr-7278: JUSTICE Act
- 116-hr-6742: Protecting Life in Crisis Act

## Sources
- [116-hr-5341 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5341)

## Related
- [116-hr-3495: Improve Well-Being for Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-3495)
- [116-hr-4305: PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-4305)
- [116-hr-1865: Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-1865)
- [116-hr-748: CARES Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-748)
- [116-hr-7278: JUSTICE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7278)
- [116-hr-6742: Protecting Life in Crisis Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-6742)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-5341 (as of 2025-11-18).