The proposed rule opens the door to increased pollution, sediment discharge, and irreversible harm to rivers and streams and the native trout they support.
Contact:
- Lindsay Slater, Vice President of Government Affairs, Trout Unlimited – Lindsay.slater@tu.org
- Kate Miller, Director of Government Affairs, Trout Unlimited – kate.miller@tu.org
- Zoe Bommarito, National Communications Director, Trout Unlimited – zoe.bommarito@tu.org | 517-604-1844
Washington, DC – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule revising regulations relating to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule would significantly weaken state and tribal authority by curtailing their ability to review, condition, or deny federally permitted energy and infrastructure projects—opening the door to increased pollution, sediment discharge, and irreversible harm to rivers and streams and the native trout they support.
“It’s critical that local communities and tribes are included in the decisions that protect their home waters and the areas that they live in,” said Lindsay Slater, Vice President of Trout Unlimited. “The Clean Water Act, including the 401 program, has long been a common-sense backstop to protecting America’s rivers and streams, and weakening it puts fish, communities, and downstream economies at real risk.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a related proposal by the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would remove Clean Water Act protection from millions of acres of wetlands, countless miles of streams, and threaten the health of an untold number of watersheds across the country.
“States and tribes have been protecting their waters under Section 401 for decades, and they know how to do it well. We believe there’s a path forward that supports responsible energy development and protects clean water. Getting that balance right matters—not just for fish and wildlife, but for every community downstream,” said Slater.
Clean water is essential to healthy trout and salmon fisheries and the communities that depend on them. Since the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, Trout Unlimited has consistently advocated for strong state and federal protections for streams, headwaters, and wetlands, speaking out against rollbacks that would strip safeguards from millions of miles of waterways and joining legal and grassroots efforts to uphold those protections.
The proposal triggers a 30-day comment period through the federal register.
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Trout Unlimited is the nation’s leading conservation organization working to care for and recover rivers and streams and their trout and salmon populations. We bring people together across the country to be champions for their rivers and help make our water cleaner and our communities healthier. Founded by a small band of Michigan anglers in 1959, we have grown into a national organization with more than 350 staff, 400 chapters, and 300,000 members and supporters. We bring science-driven restoration know-how, state and national policy muscle, and local volunteer energy to bear on behalf of clean water, healthy trout and salmon and thriving communities.