In the waning days of the Trump administration, his EPA made big changes to a key section of the Clean Water Act and undermined the ability of states and tribal authorities to protect people's water quality from dirty energy projects.
The good news? The Biden EPA is reviewing those changes and considering a replacement rule to correct them.
Biden's EPA is accepting comments on the scope of this replacement rule until Monday, August 2, and you can bet dirty energy companies are weighing in.Make sure they also hear from you!
Section 401 of the Clean Water Act is a powerful tool that gives states the ability to protect their rivers and streams from big infrastructure projects — like fracked gas pipelines — and ensure that those projects don't have devastating impacts on local water quality or violate state law. Fossil fuel companies aren't happy about that.
The Section 401 Water Quality Certification process has been critical for blocking fracked gas pipelines in several states, so it's a tool we need to protect and ensure it works as intended.The bottom line: States have to be able to reject projects that would harm people's water.
Trump-era changes shortened the amount of time states have to review projects and limited the impacts they can consider; failure to comply waives their authority to deny certification. This forces states to ignore some of the most damaging impacts of dirty infrastructure projects — all to grease the wheels for fossil fuel companies and reduce the chances that states can reject a dirty energy proposal.
If left in place, Trump’s changes will lead to more dirty energy projects being approved without critical state review, endangering aquatic life and the drinking water of people across the country.
Respect state and tribal sovereignty in determining when a project would violate the law
Ensure that certifying authorities can review the impacts of the entire permitted activity, not just specific discharges of pollutants
Eliminate the Trump-era requirements forcing states to waive their certification authority if a final decision is not made within EPA’s definition of a “reasonable” period of time or contains conditions that EPA objects to
There's a reason Big Oil & Gas wanted those Trump-era changes to Section 401: greed. Their profit depends on keeping states from exercising their right to use the 401 water certification process as intended to reject dirty energy projects that would harm water quality or violate state law.
Section 401 state certification is a critical, effective tool for protecting people and the environment.It's time to reinstate the full ability of states to use it to protect our water.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
