H.R. 1525 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1525 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 13, 2017Mr. Smith of Missouri (for himself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Brat, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Luetkemeyer, and Mr. Bost) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit Federal officials and employees from entering into settlements that provide for payment of attorney’s fees by the Federal Government in certain environmental law cases. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stop Taxpayer Funded Settlements Act. 2. Prohibition on settlements providing for payment of attorney’s fees by the Federal Government in certain environmental law cases (a) Prohibition No Federal official or Federal employee may enter into a settlement in any environmental law case in which the Federal Government is a party if the settlement provides for payment of attorney’s fees by the Federal Government. (b) Definition In this Act, the term the environmental law case means a case arising under— (1) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); (2) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); or (3) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).