United States · Bill · HR
H.R. 4149 (114th)
Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act
Introduced
1 December 2015
Last action
2 December 2015 · Referred
Status
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Sponsors
Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7], Rep. Chabot, Steve [R-OH-1], Rep. Brooks, Mo [R-AL-5], Rep. Rogers, Mike D. [R-AL-3], Rep. Yoho, Ted S. [R-FL-3], Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12], Rep. Schweikert, David [R-AZ-1], Rep. Flores, Bill [R-TX-17], Rep. Conaway, K. Michael [R-TX-11], Rep. Gibbs, Bob [R-OH-7], Rep. Rokita, Todd [R-IN-4], Rep. Messer, Luke [R-IN-6], Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2], Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2], Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1], Rep. Palazzo, Steven M. [R-MS-4], Rep. Brat, Dave [R-VA-7], Rep. Meadows, Mark [R-NC-11], Rep. Mulvaney, Mick [R-SC-5], Rep. Duncan, Jeff [R-SC-3], Rep. Mooney, Alexander X. [R-WV-2], Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7], Rep. Salmon, Matt [R-AZ-5], Rep. Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R-NC-3], Rep. DesJarlais, Scott [R-TN-4], Rep. Pittenger, Robert [R-NC-9], Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14], Rep. McClintock, Tom [R-CA-5], Rep. Knight, Stephen [R-CA-25], Rep. DeSantis, Ron [R-FL-6], Rep. Gohmert, Louie [R-TX-1]
Subjects
Environment
Source updated
12 August 2025
Summary
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 such 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.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
1 December 2015
Introduced
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Source: IntroReferral
1 December 2015
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
1 December 2015
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
2 December 2015
Referred
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Source: Committee
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in House · 1 December 2015 · Download file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in House (text)
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Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House · EN · 1 December 2015
Introduced in House (PDF)
Introduced in House · EN · 1 December 2015
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Introduced in House
summary · EN · 1 December 2015
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Sponsors
- Rep. Rice, Tom [R-SC-7] · R · Sponsor
- Rep. Chabot, Steve [R-OH-1] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Brooks, Mo [R-AL-5] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Rogers, Mike D. [R-AL-3] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Yoho, Ted S. [R-FL-3] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Schweikert, David [R-AZ-1] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Flores, Bill [R-TX-17] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Conaway, K. Michael [R-TX-11] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Gibbs, Bob [R-OH-7] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Rokita, Todd [R-IN-4] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Messer, Luke [R-IN-6] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Palazzo, Steven M. [R-MS-4] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Brat, Dave [R-VA-7] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Meadows, Mark [R-NC-11] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Mulvaney, Mick [R-SC-5] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Duncan, Jeff [R-SC-3] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Mooney, Alexander X. [R-WV-2] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Salmon, Matt [R-AZ-5] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R-NC-3] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. DesJarlais, Scott [R-TN-4] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Pittenger, Robert [R-NC-9] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. McClintock, Tom [R-CA-5] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Knight, Stephen [R-CA-25] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. DeSantis, Ron [R-FL-6] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Gohmert, Louie [R-TX-1] · R · Cosponsor
- · hspw00 · Standing
Related records
- related to → Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4149
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/114/hr/4149
- us · 114-hr-4149 · source updated 12 August 2025