The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to revise a rule under the federal Clean Water Act to give states and tribes more authority to review project impacts on water quality, although critics say it could delay project permitting.
EPA published a notice of intent in the Federal Register June 2 announcing its plan to revise the law's section 401 certification rule, which has historically given state and tribal governments the ability to block projects over water quality concerns since the law was enacted in the early 1970s.