S. 5262 — Defense of Environment and Property Act of 2026

This section narrows the definition of navigable waters under the Clean Water Act to waters of the United States that are navigable-in-fact or permanent, standing, or continuously flowing bodies connected to such waters. It excludes waters lacking a continuous surface connection, man-made or natural channels with intermittent or ephemeral flows, and wetlands without a continuous surface connection to waters of the United States. It also bars the significant nexus test for federal jurisdiction, prohibits federal actions that impinge on state land and water use authority without explicit state approval, bars aggregation of non-jurisdictional waters or wetlands, treats groundwater as state water, and provides expedited judicial review in district court for affected states or property owners.

This section nullifies the Corps of Engineers 1986 final rule on regulatory programs, the December 2008 joint EPA-Corps guidance interpreting Clean Water Act jurisdiction after the Rapanos and Carabell decisions, and any later federal regulation or guidance defining or interpreting "navigable waters" or "waters of the United States." It also bars the Secretary of the Army and the EPA Administrator from issuing any new rules or guidance that expand or interpret the definition of navigable waters absent express congressional authorization.

This section preserves the authority of states to regulate waters within their borders and the obligations of landowners to comply with state nuisance laws relating to those waters.

This section requires a Federal agency representative to obtain written consent from a private property owner before entering the property to collect information about navigable waters. It also mandates advance notice of the entry date, access for the owner to any data collected, and the owner’s right to be present during data collection.

This section requires any federal agency issuing a regulation defining “navigable waters” or “waters of the United States” to pay affected property owners twice the loss in fair market value or economic viability, as determined by an independent appraiser, from the agency’s general operations funds. The regulation has no force or effect until every qualifying landowner receives compensation.