Home Builders, Developers Score Key Wins in House Passage of Interior-Environment Spending Bill

NAHB and Florida home builders posted key wins after the House passed its Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025.

The Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) took the lead in working with NAHB to add an amendment to the spending bill that would codify Florida's wetlands permitting program. Florida's Section 404 permitting program under the Clean Water Act (CWA) was granted in 2020 but was divested this year due to a legal case.

FHBA members lobbied Congress to restore the program during NAHB's June 12 Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. The concerted lobbying efforts by FHBA members and NAHB to reinstate this permitting provision paid off with this key amendment added to the House's Interior-Environment spending bill.

NAHB also secured language in the spending bill that would require the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("the Agencies") to publicly release any guidance documents related to the implementation of the amended 2023 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.

This information is vital for builders and developers seeking federal permit approval because of the Agencies' failure to define key regulatory terms in its final WOTUS rule. This uncertainty regarding which waters are subject to federal jurisdiction sets the stage for continued federal overreach, bureaucratic delays during the wetlands permitting process, and regulatory confusion for home builders and land developers.

Last fall, NAHB filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking various documents concerning the implementation of the WOTUS, but NAHB received an unsatisfactory response from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - which contained mostly reams of redacted information.

Finally, NAHB was also able to insert legislative language in the Interior-Environment appropriations bill concerning the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This language would withhold funds from the Biden administration to implement and enforce a deeply problematic ESA rule, which imposes mandatory compensatory mitigation for impacts to habitat of federally protected species during the ESA Section 7 consultation.