H.R. 5341: Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

116th Congress · introduced 2019-12-06 · Environmental Protection · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-12-06 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

Plain 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.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7] · 30 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Mark E. Amodei (R-NV), Jim Banks (R-IN), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Andy Harris (R-MD), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Scott Perry (R-PA), David Rouzer (R-NC), Austin Scott (R-GA), Ted Budd (R-NC), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Randy K. Weber, Sr. (R-TX)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116hr5341.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/hr>

Record fed-us-cong116-hr5341 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116