Chesapeake Bay Foundation Slams EPA Rule Limiting Ability Of States To Protect Water Quality On Pipeline, Other Projects

On June 1, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation condemned the water quality permitting rule the Trump administration finalized as “an egregious assault” on states’ ability to protect waters within their borders.

The new EPA rule weakens states’ authority under section 401 of the Clean Water Act to ensure that projects to build natural gas pipelines, dams, and other infrastructure that require certain federal permits and licenses do not pollute state waterways.

The rule overturns states’ longstanding right to stop or place conditions on projects that threaten to harm local creeks, streams, and rivers, and shifts final decision-making authority from the states to the federal government.

It also arbitrarily limits how long states can review projects and restricts the potential damages, including the effects of climate change and air pollution, states can consider.  Air pollution from major infrastructure projects can harm water quality and public health.

CBF Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration Lisa Feldt made the following statement about the rule:

“This rule is an egregious assault on states’ longstanding authority to safeguard the quality of their own waters. Despite the Trump administration’s professed respect for ‘cooperative federalism,’ it is clearly willing to steamroll states’ rights and greenlight major construction projects with no regard for how they might damage state waters.

“By restricting the ability of the six watershed states and the District of Columbia to protect the 111,000 miles of creeks, streams that feed into the Chesapeake Bay, the administration is once again sabotaging their efforts to reduce pollution from nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment to targeted amounts by the 2025 deadline.”

For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage.  Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).  Click Here to support their work.

Also visit the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership to learn how you can help clean water grow on trees.

Resource Link:

EPA Announcement: EPA Issues Final Rule That Helps Ensure U.S. Energy Security, Limits Misuse Of Clean Water Act

NewsClips:

The Hill: Trump Rule Limits States From Blocking Pipeline Projects

NYT: EPA Limits States’ Power To Oppose Pipelines, Other Energy Projects

Post: EPA Limits States, Tribes’ Ability to Protest Pipelines, Other Energy Projects

NRDC: EPA Curbs State, Tribal Authority To Block Projects That Harm Waterways

Related Articles:

Delaware RiverKeeper: New EPA Section 401 Water Quality Regulation Robs States Of Their Rights
Pennsylvania, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Partners File Lawsuits Against EPA For Rolling Back Clean Car Standards

[Posted: June 1, 2020]  PA Environment Digest