Legislation, Regulation and Litigation

States are the primary authority for allocating, administering, protecting, and developing water resources, and they are primarily responsible for water supply planning within their boundaries. States have the ultimate say in the management of their water resources and are best suited to speak to the unique nature of western water law and hydrology. Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), Congress deliberately preserved states’ authority to manage and protect their water resources by establishing a system of cooperative federalism through which states serve as co-regulators for the implementation and enforcement of federal statutory programs. CWA Section 401 represents a critical state authority which protect states’ authority over water resources and ensures that states have a meaningful role in the certification of federal permits and licenses for projects that may affect water quality in a state.The CWA Section 401 Process Improvements have been developed in collaboration with associations of state officials and are intended to identify possible reforms to the water quality certification program that do not compromise or curtail states’ well-established legal authority to manage and protect their water resources. As states are co-regulators with the federal government in administering the CWA, it is critical that states be afforded early, meaningful, substantive, and ongoing consultation in the development of any changes to the Section 401 program or to the balance of state and federal authority under the statute.