VotedBy VotedBy ⌕
Election Day · Tue, Nov 3See how your members of Congress voted →

H.R. 1179 · 115th Congress

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 115th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

TRR RiceSponsor
65 cosponsors · 65 R
MAR Amodei RAR Allen RAR Abraham JAR Arrington DBR Brat ABR Biggs KCR Conaway JDR Denham JDR Duncan KGR Granger GGR Grothman AMR Mooney SPR Perry TRR Rokita DRR Rouzer DSR Schweikert ASR Scott CSR Stewart PTR Tiberi JWR Wilson TYR Yoho JBR Banks KCR Cramer POR Olson JRR Renacci JWR Walorski RBR Blum SCR Chabot JCR Carter PCR Cook TFR Franks AHR Harris THR Hollingsworth SJR Johnson SKR Knight BLR Loudermilk DNR Nunes HRR Rogers RAR Aderholt MBR Blackburn JBR Bridenstine KCR Calvert TCR Cole BFR Flores WJR Jones TKR Kelly KMR Marchant TMR McClintock DMR McKinley MMR Meadows SPR Pearce SPR Palazzo RPR Pittenger DRR Ross JSR Smith DVR Valadao RWR Weber RWR Williams BWR Westerman DYR Young VHR Hartzler DTR Trott BFR Farenthold GGR Gianforte RNR Norman

21 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements concerning citizen suits. 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.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Feb 16, 2017

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements concerning citizen suits. 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.

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.

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.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

Latest action (Feb 17, 2017): Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Policy area: Environmental Protection · Origin: House · Introduced: Feb 16, 2017

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.