E.P.A., Reversing Trump, Will Restore States’ Power to Block Pipelines
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday will move to restore authority to states and tribes to veto gas pipelines, coal terminals and other energy projects if they would pollute local rivers and streams, reversing a Trump-era rule that had curtailed that power.
For 50 years, the Clean Water Act has given states and tribes the ability to review federal permits for industrial facilities and block projects that could discharge pollution into local waterways. Without their certification, the federal government cannot approve a project.
Michael S. Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency was proposing a rule that “builds on this foundation by empowering states, territories, and tribes to use congressionally granted authority to protect precious water resources while supporting much-needed infrastructure projects that create jobs and bolster our economy.”
Water resources are “essential to thriving communities, vibrant ecosystems and sustainable economic growth,” Mr. Regan said in a statement.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: fossil fuels
Fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas, primarily — remain the dominant energy sources for much of the world, with their accompanying infrastructure of mines, drilling and production wells, pipelines and various forms of transportation. But they have become more problematic as governments struggle to address climate change and pivot to energy sources that do not result in carbon dioxide emissions.