The Trump Administration issued proposed rules last week designed to streamline approval of gas pipelines and other energy projects by limiting states’ certification authorities under the Clean Water Act.

The rule changes, which stem from an executive order signed by President Trump in April, are part of the administration’s broader agenda to roll back regulations on energy and mining projects. Administration officials say the existing rules are outdated, while critics say the change amounts to a federal power grab, both in terms of what states can and can’t consider in their reviews, as well as their structure and timing.

In addition to East Coast pipeline proposals, one of the projects that prompted the rule change was Washington’s denial of a clean water certification for Millennium Bulk Terminals’ proposed coal export facility in Longview. The rule change could also be meaningful for the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas export terminal in Coos Bay and its 230-mile feeder pipeline.

The Trump Administration is an avowed supporter of the Jordan Cove project and has been heavily lobbied by gas producers in western states looking to expedite its approval to gain access to Asian export markets. To date, however, the project has been stymied by regulatory denials and delays -- most recently a denial of its water quality certification by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The proposed changes to the Clean Water Act would allow the federal agency permitting a project to set a “reasonable period of time” -- not to exceed one year -- for state and tribes to review projects and determine if they meet state water quality standards. The federal government could subsequently modify that period of time, but states would have no authority to modify or restart the timeline if they received inadequate data from an applicant. That’s a situation that occurs routinely with complex projects, as it has with Jordan Cove and the Pacific Connector Pipeline.

The new rules, promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency, would also limit what information states and tribes can consider and request in their certification decisions. The rules would allow federal authorities to override conditions placed on a certification by a state or tribe, or waive states’ authorities altogether if it determined a decision didn’t comply with the act and wasn’t remedied within a reasonable period of time.

“This is extremely misguided and unlawful; the EPA does not have the authority to rewrite the Clean Water Act,” said Daniel Estrin, general counsel for the Waterkeeper Alliance, a coalition of some 340 national and international waterkeeper groups.

Estrin said the 1972 law was specifically designed to give states the authority to regulate clean water issues, and the rule change would give the federal government veto authority over those decisions.

“It’s a huge power grab,” he said.

The Western Governors’ Association and a coalition of other state government organizations have also repeatedly questioned the need for the rule changes and the process that the federal agency has followed.

“EPA has failed to provide states or local governments with substantive information supporting the need for this agency action,” the organizations said in a May 24 letter to EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist. “Our organizations have contacted the agency numerous times – both in advance of formal action, and afterwards – without receiving adequate, if any, response. The agency has failed to meaningfully respond both to questions posed and to substantive suggestions proffered by our associations.”

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality denied a water quality certification for the Jordan Cove project in May, releasing a 200-page decision detailing why the agency didn’t have “a reasonable assurance” that the project would comply Oregon’s water quality standards. It said the company had provided insufficient information to demonstrate compliance, and in some cases available information showed that “some standards are more likely than not to be violated.”

Specific concerns included impacts on water quality from construction and operation of the Pacific Connector pipeline. The 36-inch diameter pipe would affect more than 352 bodies of water and traverse mountainous, landslide-prone areas along its 230-mile path from an interstate gas hub in Klamath County to the proposed export terminal in Coos Bay.

DEQ’s letter to Jordan Cove described a lengthy back and forth between the company and the agency, with multiple requests for additional information by DEQ, incomplete and inadequate responses by Jordan Cove, and late responses that provided inadequate time for the agency to review them.

The agency was originally slated to make its decision on the water quality permit in September, but accelerated the process to assure it didn’t unintentionally waive the state’s authority.

Like other states, Oregon regulators have routinely allowed applicants to restart the clock on their certifications by withdrawing and resubmitting their applications when there was inadequate information to complete the review. But nationally, some applicants whose certifications were denied have successfully pushed to have courts and federal authorities declare that states have waived their certification rights by failing to issue a decision within a year.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had originally instructed DEQ to complete its review by May 7, 2019, but extended that date until September after Jordan Cove withdrew and resubmitted its application. DEQ said recent court actions had raised questions about whether that extension was valid, so it made its decision by the original deadline.

The agency has left the door open for Jordan Cove to reapply.

State agencies have received tens of thousands of public comments on the Jordan Cove project, many objecting to the project based on its water quality impacts in Coos Bay and along the pipeline route.

The rule changes are subject to a 60-day public comment period, though Estrin said he was doubtful the Trump Administration would change direction in its final rules. “We’ll be in the courts challenging it for the foreseeable future, or looking to fix it politically” if Trump is defeated in 2020, he said.

Correction: Millennium Bulk Terminals is not affiliated with the Port of Longview.