SALAMANDER Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The SALAMANDER Act responds to disaster recovery delays by letting the Army Corps issue or modify Clean Water Act section 404(e) general permits for categories of post-disaster recovery activities in presidentially declared disaster or emergency areas. The activity category must be developed through programmatic Endangered Species Act consultation with Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture as applicable, and those agencies must determine that best management practices avoid or minimize adverse effects on listed species and critical habitat. A permit lasts 18 months from the disaster declaration. Activities complying with the general permit are not subject to individual ESA section 7(a)(2) consultation. The Corps must coordinate with state fish and wildlife agencies within 30 days and issue national guidance with Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture.
Who Benefits and How
Disaster recovery project sponsors, property owners, local communities, and infrastructure repair contractors benefit from faster section 404 permitting for work directly related to a declared disaster or emergency. The Corps benefits from a pre-coordinated permit structure instead of repeated individual consultations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Army Corps, Interior Department, Commerce Department, Agriculture Department, and state fish and wildlife agencies must coordinate programmatic consultation, best management practices, 30-day state engagement, and national guidance. Listed species and critical habitats may face added risk if project-specific consultation is replaced by a general permit, although the bill requires best management practices to avoid or minimize adverse effects.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes 18-month Clean Water Act general permits for post-disaster recovery activities in declared disaster or emergency areas.
- Requires programmatic ESA consultation with Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture before covered activity categories are used.
- Provides that compliant activities under the general permit do not need individual ESA section 7 consultation.
- Directs Corps coordination with state fish and wildlife agencies within 30 days and national guidance across Corps districts.
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
Allows the Army Corps to use 18-month post-disaster Clean Water Act section 404 general permits developed through programmatic endangered-species consultation.
Key Policy Areas
Environment, Disaster Recovery, Construction, Government
Primary Purpose
Allows the Army Corps to use 18-month post-disaster Clean Water Act section 404 general permits developed through programmatic endangered-species consultation.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- disaster recovery project sponsors
- property owners
- local communities
- infrastructure repair contractors
Identified Costs
- Army Corps of Engineers staff
- Interior Department staff
- Commerce Department staff
- Agriculture Department staff
- state fish and wildlife agencies
- listed species habitats
Sponsors
Tim Moore
R-NC | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Mr. Moore of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. Edwards) …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Army Corps of Engineers permit staff, Commerce Department marine fisheries staff, Interior Department wildlife consultation staff
listed species habitats described in findings, listed species habitats relying on best management practices
disaster recovery communities described in findings
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Secretary"
- → Secretary of the Army acting through the Corps of Engineers
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