The Trump administration gutted a key portion of the Clean Water Act on Monday, limiting states’ ability to block controversial pipeline projects that cross their waterways.
The final rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) targets Section 401 of the law, which lets states halt pipelines that risk hurting their water quality.
It’s been a target of President Trump
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“Today, we are following through on President Trump’s Executive Order to curb abuses of the Clean Water Act that have held our nation’s energy infrastructure projects hostage, and to put in place clear guidelines that finally give these projects a path forward,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler
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The Clean Water Act essentially gives states veto power over large projects that cut through their rivers and streams, giving them a year to weigh permits and determine how projects would impact their water quality.
Environmentalists see it as a way for states to assert their power to block risky projects, but the fossil fuel industry and many Republicans say the section has been abused to stall infrastructure.
Two states run by Democrats have recently used the law to sideline major projects: New York denied a certification for the Constitution Pipeline, a 124-mile natural gas pipeline that would have run from Pennsylvania to New York, crossing rivers more than 200 times. Washington state also denied certification for the Millennium Coal Terminal, a shipping port for large stocks of coal.
The new policy from the Trump administration would accelerate timelines under the law, limiting what it sees as state power to keep a project in harmful limbo. The need for a 401 certification from the state will be waived if states do not respond within a year.
“We support the Clean Water Act, and though certain states have continued to go well beyond its scope for water quality certifications, we hope the addition of a well-defined timeline and review process will provide certainty to operators as they develop infrastructure projects that meet state water quality standards,” the American Petroleum Institute, which represents oil and natural gas companies, said in a release Monday.
Green groups and the Western Governors’ Association have pushed back against the effort.
“We urge you to direct federal agencies to reject any changes to agency rules, guidance, or policy that may diminish, impair, or subordinate states’ well-established sovereign and statutory authorities to protect water quality within their boundaries,” the Western Governors’ Association wrote in a letter when the White House was still weighing an executive order.
State attorneys general vowed to sue when the rule was first proposed in August.
“The law is absolutely clear — states have both the right and the responsibility under the Clean Water Act to preserve our environment and protect public health. The White House’s relentless attacks cannot change that,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
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