Promulgation of Tribal Baseline Water Quality Standards Under the Clean Water Act
On April 27, 2023, the EPA Administrator signed a proposed rule to promulgate federal baseline water quality standards (WQS) for waters on over 250 Indian reservations that do not have WQS in effect under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This proposed rulemaking would extend the same framework of water quality protection to these tribal waters that currently exists for most other waters of the United States. The baseline standards would safeguard water quality until tribes adopt their own WQS for these waters under the CWA.
- Fact Sheet: Proposed Federal Baseline Water Quality Standards for Indian Reservations (pdf)
- Proposed Rule: Federal Baseline Water Quality Standards for Indian Reservations
- Press Release: EPA Proposes to Establish First-Time Clean Water Act Protections for Over 250 Tribes
Tribal Consultation and Coordination
EPA conducted tribal engagement and consultation on the concepts reflected in this proposed rule between June and September 2021, prior to drafting the proposed rule. EPA invited a second round of consultation and coordination on the proposed rule between May 3, 2023 and August 1, 2023. For more information on the tribal consultation and coordination process, please visit the following:
Public Hearings
EPA held two public hearings so that interested parties could provide oral comments on EPA’s proposed rule.
- Tuesday, June 27, 2023
- Wednesday, July 12, 2023
EPA will consider all oral comments provided during the hearings along with written comments submitted via the docket for this rulemaking (available at Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0405).
- PRESENTATION: Promulgation of Tribal Baseline Water Quality Standards Under the Clean Water Act (6/27/23) (pdf)
- TRANSCRIPT: Promulgation of Tribal Baseline Water Quality Standards Under the Clean Water Act - Public Hearing #1 (6/27/23) (pdf)
- PRESENTATION: Promulgation of Tribal Baseline Water Quality Standards Under the Clean Water Act (7/12/23) (pdf)
- TRANSCRIPT: Promulgation of Tribal Baseline Water Quality Standards Under the Clean Water Act - Public Hearing #2 (7/12/23) (pdf)
Comments on the Proposal
EPA accepted public comments on this proposed rule between May 5, 2023 and August 3, 2023. All written comments that were submitted on the proposal can be accessed at regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0405).