Clean Water Justice Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Clean Water Justice Act increases the criminal fine ceilings in section 309(c)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for knowing Clean Water Act violations. It raises the listed penalty amounts from $5,000 to $25,000, from $50,000 to $250,000, and from $100,000 to $500,000. It also requires the EPA Administrator to adjust maximum penalties each year based on the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers and to publish the adjusted amounts in the Federal Register. Adjustments apply prospectively to violations committed after publication.
Who Benefits and How
Communities affected by unlawful water pollution benefit because prosecutors and EPA enforcement staff would have larger criminal penalty tools for knowing violations. Environmental protection programs benefit from penalty levels that no longer erode with inflation. Federal courts and prosecutors benefit from clearer inflation-adjustment rules for future penalty amounts.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Industrial dischargers and municipal permit holders face higher financial exposure if they knowingly violate Clean Water Act requirements. EPA enforcement staff must calculate and publish annual CPI adjustments. Department of Justice prosecutors and federal courts must apply the higher and inflation-adjusted maximums in criminal cases. Regulated facilities may need stronger compliance controls to avoid larger penalty risk.
Key Provisions
- Raises the $5,000 criminal penalty ceiling for knowing Clean Water Act violations to $25,000.
- Raises the $50,000 ceiling to $250,000 and the $100,000 ceiling to $500,000.
- Requires annual CPI adjustments to the maximum penalties using Department of Labor CPI data.
- Directs EPA to publish each adjusted penalty amount in the Federal Register.
- Limits each adjustment to violations committed after the publication date.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Raises Clean Water Act criminal penalty maximums for knowing violations and requires annual CPI adjustments published by EPA in the Federal Register.
Key Policy Areas
Clean Water, Environmental Enforcement, Criminal Penalties
Primary Purpose
Raises Clean Water Act criminal penalty maximums for knowing violations and requires annual CPI adjustments published by EPA in the Federal Register.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Communities affected by water pollution
- EPA enforcement programs
- Department of Justice prosecutors
- Federal courts
Identified Costs
- Industrial dischargers
- Municipal permit holders
- EPA enforcement staff
- Regulated facilities
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Ms. Barragán introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in …
Introduced in House
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "DOJ"
- → Department of Justice
- "EPA"
- → Environmental Protection Agency
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology