Revising the Federal Water Quality Standards Regulations to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights
On November 28, 2022, the EPA Administrator signed a proposed rule to revise the water quality standards (WQS) regulation at 40 CFR part 131 to clarify and prescribe how state and federal WQS must protect aquatic and aquatic-dependent resources reserved to tribes through treaties, statutes, executive orders, or other sources of federal law, in waters where those rights exist. The proposed revisions would create a regulatory framework that would be applied case-specifically to help ensure protection of resources reserved to tribes, such as fish and wild rice.
- Fact Sheet: Proposed Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights (pdf)
- Proposed Rule: Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights
- Press Release: EPA Announces Proposal to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights in Water Quality Standards and Best Practices for Tribal Treaty and Reserved Rights
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 November 30, 2022 and February 28, 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, January 24, 2023
- Tuesday, January 31, 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-2021-0791).
- PRESENTATION: Proposed Revisions to the Federal Water Quality Standards Regulation to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights (1/24/23) (pdf)
- TRANSCRIPT: Proposed Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights - Public Hearing #1 (1/24/23) (pdf)
- TRANSCRIPT: Proposed Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights - Public Hearing #2 (pdf)
Comments on the Proposal
EPA accepted public comments on this proposed rule between December 6, 2022 and March 6, 2023. All written comments that were submitted on the proposal can be accessed at regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0791).