WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Wildlife Federation praised the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that it will revise the previous administration’s guidance limiting the role of states and Tribes in implementing water quality standards under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. 

"We are delighted EPA will be restoring the authority of states and Tribes to protect their waters from potentially-damaging federally permitted projects like dams, mines, and pipelines,” said Jim Murphy, the National Wildlife Federation’s director of legal advocacy. “We encourage EPA to take the next logical step and move swiftly to repeal the Trump-era rule that has stripped thousands of waters of Clean Water Act protections, jeopardizing iconic places like the Okefenokee Swamp and Indiana Dunes National Park.”