Biden administration gives states more authority to block pipeline projects

The Biden administration is giving states and tribes more authority to block certain projects, like pipelines that run through their waters, on water quality grounds.

A new final rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) undoes the Trump administration’s efforts to limit states’ authority to block such projects.

Specifically, the new Biden rule allows a state or tribe to consider any aspect of the project with the potential to impact water quality as it weighs whether to approve or 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.

Several Democratic governors praised the rule in a statement issued by the Biden administration.

“EPA’s action will better protect New Mexico’s water quality at a time when federal and state protections are needed most,” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D).

The Clean Water Act gives states the authority to approve or reject projects that run through their waters. 

The Trump administration sought to limit that authority, a decision that came after Democrat-led states used the law to block two major projects: a coal shipping port in Washington state and a pipeline that would have run between Pennsylvania and New York. 

In addition to the change regarding pollution, the Biden administration also said its rule encourages “early engagement” between industry and the states or tribes. 

It would do so by enabling states and tribes to meet with companies who are trying to get a project approved before the clock starts on the one-year deadline to make a decision.