January 14, 2026
Washington, DC – Yesterday, the U.S. EPA issued a proposed rollback of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, which gives states and Tribes power to review and veto federally permitted pipelines, dams, coal mining, data centers, and other projects that harm water quality. Calling it “regulatory overreach,” the EPA said its new proposed rule would slash delays in the permitting process so industries could move more swiftly to build federally permitted projects even when they pollute waterways.
The Clean Water Act was devised under cooperative federalism, which gave states and Tribes the authority to weigh in on projects that required federal permits if they discharge into waterways protected by states or Tribes. The proposed rule would significantly cut back that authority and prevent states from stopping or fixing projects that threaten public health and the environment.
In response to the proposed rule,
Nancy Stoner, Senior Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said:
“The Clean Water Act has been working for more than 50 years to prevent pipelines, dams, coal mining, data centers, and other projects from polluting the Great Lakes, rivers, and streams across the Midwest. One of its strongest provisions empowers states and Tribes to protect local communities by rejecting federal projects that pollute waterways that threaten public health, drinking water supplies, swimming beaches, and wildlife habitat.
“The Trump administration proposal would eviscerate this power specifically given to states and Tribes by the Clean Water Act – and twice upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. EPA is not content just to greenlight corporate pollution itself – it is now proposing to prevent states and Tribes from using authorities given to them by federal law to protect the public.”