Joint Trades Clean Water Act Section 401 Comments

This letter provides comments in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s  proposed rule revising and replacing the Agency’s 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification regulations1 (“2020 Rule”). As explained in more detail below, the 2020 Rule provided long-overdue clarification on the role of states and other certifying authorities under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (“CWA” or “the Act”). The proposed rule would eliminate the clarity and consistency that the 2020 Rule afforded project proponents and certifying authorities alike, while needlessly delaying nationally important projects or critical infrastructure such as those to modernize our nation’s means of generating and transporting energy, as well as our commitment to directing investment to the infrastructure needs of underserved communities.