A Western Governors’ Association-led coalition of leading organizations of state officials express “continued concerns” about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plans and processes to revise its guidance on the implementation and administration of the Clean Water Act Section 401.
The agency’s constrained timelines to review, revise and replace longstanding guidance and rules heighten the coalition’s concerns.
“EPA’s engagement with state and local officials on this issue has thus far failed to satisfy the express directives requiring meaningful consultation,” states the May 24, 2019 letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This conflicts with Congress’s express intent that the CWA be administered under a genuine system of cooperative federalism.”
Signatories to the letter include leadership of the Western Governors’ Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, Association of Clean Water Administrators, Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Association of State Wetland Managers, Council of State Governments, Council of State Governments-West, Western Interstate Energy Board and Western States Water Council.
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