EPA Water Rule Limiting State Veto Seen Inviting Legal Challenge

Environmental attorney Matthew Leopold was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article about a proposed rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit states' ability to block large infrastructure projects based on environmental impact. The proposed rule would update the state certification rule under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to prevent states from considering the environmental impacts of a project as a whole, instead restricting their review to specific sources of water pollution in federally regulated waters. Mr. Leopold characterized the move as "largely just a return to the 2020 rulemaking," when the first Trump Administration rescinded states' veto power over these projects (the Biden Administration restored said power in 2023). He added that though the rule will reduce the scope of Section 401's application, states will still be able to object to projects, provided they meet timeline requirements and other obligations.

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