Nineteen AGs Urged EPA to Repeal Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule

AUGUST 2, 2021

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Washington Attorney General Ferguson, and New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 19 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to repeal the Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule as immediately as possible. The rule, published in 2020, limits the authority that states have to protect water quality in their states. The coalition called the rule “illegal, detrimental to water quality, and an affront to the cooperative federalism at the heart of the Clean Water Act.” The AGs also provided guidance for crafting a replacement rule.