Clean Water Act Section 401

Clean water act section 401.

Clean water act section 401. The final rule establishes procedures that promote consistent implementation of cwa section 401 and regulatory certainty in the federal licensing and permitting process. Under section 401 of the clean water act cwa a federal agency may not issue a permit or license to conduct any activity that may result in any discharge into waters of the united states unless a state or authorized tribe where the discharge would originate issues a section 401 water quality certification verifying compliance with existing water quality requirements or waives the certification requirement. Section 401 of the clean water act cwa requires that an applicant for a federal license or permit provide a certification that any discharges from the facility will comply with the act including state established water quality standard requirements.

2 upon receipt of such application and certification the licensing or permitting agency shall immediately notify the. Section 401 certification the clean water act cwa gives states and authorized tribes the authority to grant deny or waive certification of proposed federal licenses or permits that may discharge into waters of the united states. Section 401 of the clean water act requires any applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct an activity that may result in a discharge of a pollutant into waters of the united states to obtain a certification from the state in which the discharge originates that the discharge complies the applicable water quality standards.

Learn more about 401 certification. State certification of water quality 1 any applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct any activity including but not limited to the. On june 1 2020 the epa finalized the clean water act section 401 certification rule to implement the water quality certification process consistent with the text and structure of the clean water act cwa.

Epa is returning the clean water act certification process under section 401 to its original purpose which is to review potential impacts that discharges from federally permitted projects may have on water resources not to indefinitely delay or block critically important infrastructure said epa administrator andrew wheeler. Disputes have arisen over the states exercise of this authority in protecting water quality.