"An EPA rule finalized last week that restores states’ veto power over pipelines and other major river-polluting projects is expected to face legal challenges before the dust settles, natural resources attorneys say.
“EPA’s water quality certification rule is most certainly heading to court,” said Jeff Porter, chair of the environmental law practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC in Boston.
“EPA has not only reversed the Trump Administration EPA’s attempt to limit the roles of States and Tribes in Federal Clean Water Act permitting, it has gone a considerable distance in the other direction,” Porter said in an email Friday.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Rule, which takes effect in November, governs the state approval process for federally-permitted infrastructure projects that have the potential to pollute rivers or other streams considered waters of the US, or WOTUS. "
Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment September 18, 2023.
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