On October 15, 2021, EPN sent a letter to EPA’s Office of Water regarding the Trump administration’s decision that the proposed 2020 Yazoo Area Pumps Project in Mississippi’s South Delta was not subject to the 2008 Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404(c) Final Determination of the same project. This decision allows for significant adverse impacts to jurisdictional wetlands and other waters within the project area. EPN found that EPA did not take the necessary steps, consistent with long-standing practice, to assure the full engagement of all affected stakeholders in any decision to modify a CWA 404(c) final agency action. EPN urged EPA to reverse its decision and recommended that the agency develop appropriate regulations that clearly define the process for modifying a Section 404(c) Final Determination.
Read the letter.