A coalition of energy industry groups is urging President Donald Trump to limit EPA’s ability under the Clean Water Act to veto major project permits, calling the sparsely used power a “significant threat” to the economy.
The relatively newly formed coalition also asked Trump to yank a Biden-era veto that Trump’s administration is scheduled to defend in court next week.
“We are especially concerned that a future, environmentally radical administration could rely on past court decisions to use this authority to eliminate projects, such as power, mining, pipeline, energy, and other infrastructure, that have been permitted by your Administration and that are actually in the process of being built,” the Fix the EPA Veto Coalition wrote in a letter to Trump.
The group is targeting EPA’s authority to veto water permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. EPA has used that power sparingly, and only three times in the last 35 years, but the courts have also interpreted the law to allow EPA to act years after a potential project has sought its permits.
