New chapter in Clean Water West report: 401 water quality certification

River Network is happy to release Chapter 4 of "Implementing the Clean Water Act in the Intermountain West: an Overview." Chapter 4 summarizes basic information about each state's 401 water quality certification programs. This important and underutilized tool is worth learning more about.

The new chapter on 401 water quality certification and three earlier chapters of the report (covering water quality standards issues) are available online.

In order to ensure that federal activities will not violate state water quality standards, the Clean Act gives states and some tribes the authority to veto or place conditions on activities requiring a federal license or permit that may result in a discharge. This process is called 401 water quality certification (401 refers to the relevant section in the Clean Water Act). To date, the 401 process has been primarily applied to:

• Private hydropower dam construction and operation that requires federal (FERC) licensing;
• Dredge and fill activities that require federal 404 permits (wetlands and stream alteration) and
• Pollution discharge permits in states where U.S. EPA issues NPDES permits.

Yet, 401 certification applies to all federal licenses and permits with the potential to create a discharge. In fact, the relevant language in the Act is quite broad:

“Any applicant for a Federal license or permit to conduct any activity including, but not limited to, the construction or operation of facilities, which may result in any discharge into the navigable waters, shall provide the licensing or permitting agency a certification from the State in which the discharge originates or will originate, or, if appropriate, from the interstate water pollution control agency having jurisdiction over the navigable waters at the point where the discharge originates or will originate, that any such discharge will comply with the applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 of this Act.”

Clean Water Act, Section 401(a)(1)

If you live and work in the 8-state Intermountain West region, go to the report site and check out chapter 4 to learn more!