Farmer Fairness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3844 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require all persons exercising substantial operational control over a concentrated animal feeding operation to jointly obtain a permit for certain discharges, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 18, 2019 Mr. KHANNA (for himself and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require all persons exercising substantial operational control over a concentrated animal feeding operation to jointly obtain a permit for certain discharges, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farmer Fairness Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3844.IH H3844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3844 IH SEC. 2. CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION DIS- 1 CHARGES. 2 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 3 Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(t) CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION 6 DISCHARGES.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of apply- 8 ing the requirements of this section to a discharge 9 from a concentrated animal feeding operation, the 10 Administrator shall require all persons exercising 11 substantial operational control over the concentrated 12 animal feeding operation to jointly obtain a permit 13 under this section for the discharge. 14 ‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIAL OPERATIONAL CONTROL.— 15 For purposes of this subsection, a person exercises 16 substantial operational control over a concentrated 17 animal feeding operation if the person— 18 ‘‘(A) has an ownership interest in the live- 19 stock, land, or other capital of the concentrated 20 animal feeding operation; 21 ‘‘(B) exercises any control over the activi- 22 ties, operation (including specifying how the 23 livestock of the concentrated animal feeding op- 24 eration is fed, grown, or medicated), or man- 25 agement (including waste management prac- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3844.IH H3844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3844 IH tices) of a concentrated animal feeding oper- 1 ation; or 2 ‘‘(C) meets any other criteria that the Ad- 3 ministrator determines appropriate.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3844.IH H3844 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS