On June 3, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revising and replacing its 2020 regulatory requirements for water quality certification under Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401. Section 401 provides states and authorized tribes the power to grant, condition, or deny certification for federally licensed or permitted projects, including natural gas pipelines, that may result in a discharge into waters of the United States. In a 2020 rule revising the prior 1971 rule, EPA had limited the power of states and tribes to review the impacts of such projects and to deny such certifications. The 2022 proposal would return reverse those 2020 changes.
EPA is accepting comments until August 8, 2022.