Don Santa, president and chief executive officer of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, applauded a bill introduced today by Senators John Barrasso, Shelly Moore Capito, Steve Daines and Jim Inhofe to restore cooperative federalism in the review of infrastructure projects, such as interstate natural gas pipelines:
“INGAA supports this measure to bring clarity to section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In recent years, a handful of states have used this provision of federal law to disrupt or delay infrastructure projects, sometimes using justifications unrelated to water quality. Cooperative federalism is upset, interstate commerce is disrupted, and the interests of other states are undermined when individual states step outside the role defined by Congress in section 401. Providing clarity regarding the appropriate federal and state roles under section 401 can restore the cooperative federalism Congress intended in this section of the Clean Water Act.”
