Trump administration proposes to cut ability of states, tribes, and local communities to protect clean water, SELC says 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Southern Environmental Law Center today warned against a proposed rule by the Trump administration regarding section 401 of the Clean Water Act that cuts states, tribes, and local communities’ ability to protect drinking water, rivers, streams, wetlands, and aquatic life threatened by large federally permitted projects.  

The following is a statement by Patrick Hunter, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, regarding the proposed rule: 

“Once again, the Trump administration is dismantling part of the Clean Water Act that gives states and local communities a seat at the table when federally permitted projects threaten local streams, rivers, lakes, and drinking water sources. The administration’s proposal is an attack on the ability of state, tribal and local authorities to protect water resources during large federal infrastructure projects. In the South, we know how crucial protecting waterways is to the safety and benefit of our communities, state economies and our way of life so it’s critical that local voices have a say in the construction of large federal projects.”  

The ability had been in place since the 1970s, but it was curtailed severely under the first Trump administration and restored by the Biden administration. It ensures impacted and vulnerable communities have a voice in federal projects that could harm the clean water they depend on, and promotes more predictable, efficient decision-making.