Sweeping legislation to preserve “wetlands” that would have imposed extensive new regulations on privately held land passed the House Energy and Environment Committee but failed to advance out of the House prior to the chamber’s third-reading deadline.

Proponents claimed that HB 3596 (Moeller) was in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down the previous federal Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulations.

The legislation would have required home builders, contractors, farmers, and other landowners to go through a potentially lengthy and costly permitting process to develop privately held property if the development resulted in the discharge of dredged or fill material into a vaguely defined “wetland”—unless that land qualified for a special exemption.

Failure to obtain the required permit could have resulted in penalties of up to $10,000 per day of violation.

The legislation would have permitted the Department of Natural Resources to set permitting fees and granted it permission to “enter at all reasonable times upon any private or public property for the purpose of inspecting and investigating to ascertain compliance and possible violations of this Act, implementing rules, or permit terms or conditions.”

NFIB opposed the legislation due to the red tape and costs it would impose on small businesses seeking to develop or utilize privately held land.