Clean Water Act 401 Certification Rule

The Fight Over Tribal Authority Under the Clean Water Act

The Fight Over Tribal Authority Under the Clean Water Act

2L staffer, Zachary Mills, discusses the importance of the Clean Water Act and how the act continues to change through public and presidential pressure. Mills focuses explicitly on Section 401 of the Act, where it designates state and tribal governments as “certifying authorities” for these licenses, but after Trump’s Executive Order 13956, the EPA narrowed Section 401. Mills highly encourages courts to truly realize the change to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act does more harm than good for the Native American communities.