Sixteen AGs Filed Comments Urging FERC to Ensure States Have Sufficient Time to Conduct Clean Water Act Section 401 Reviews

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing comments urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure that states are provided “the maximum amount of time allowed by statute” before their authority under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to grant or deny certification for proposed infrastructure projects, such as dams and pipelines, is deemed waived. The comments emphasized that state agencies’ reviews of applications for Section 401 certification often require a “tremendous investment of resources” and “would be difficult to complete within anything less than the maximum available review period,” given the complexity of major infrastructure projects and their environmental impacts.