The Big Story 

The Biden administration is making it easier for states to block infrastructure projects like pipelines for water quality reasons. 

© AP Photo

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule on Thursday that allows states or tribes to consider any aspect of the project with the potential to impact water quality as it weighs whether to block a project. 

“Our focus was on restoring [state] authority and providing an efficient path to critical infrastructure projects in this country,” Radhika Fox, the EPA’s top water official, told reporters on Thursday.

It’s the reversal of a Trump-era rule that limited the basis on which a state could block a project.

The Trump rule came after blue states had used their Clean Water Act authority to block two high-profile projects: a coal shipping port in Washington state and a gas pipeline that would have run between Pennsylvania and New York. 

The Democratic governors of North Carolina, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Mexico and Maryland praised the new Biden administration rule in written statements shared by the EPA.

Read more at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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Bipartisan Duo

© Greg Nash

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) met Thursday to discuss permitting reform.

Following the meeting, the pair released a joint statement saying they hoped to reach an agreement on the issue they’ve been negotiating for months on end. But they gave no details on what they discussed or the progress of the talks. 

“We are in agreement that we must act to accelerate our permitting system and are committed to reaching a bipartisan solution that prioritizes American energy security, reliability and affordability,” they said. 

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• Green group to launch ‘experts of color’ database (E&E News)

   

• A Court Settlement Puts the E.P.A. on Track to Regulate Pesticides More Strictly (The New York Times) 
  
  

• Carbon capture project back at Texas coal plant after 3-year shutdown (Reuters)

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Hunter Biden indicted on three federal gun charges

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Opinions in The Hill 

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