The Honorable Senator Blakespear, Chair
California Senate Committee on Environmental Quality
1021 O Street, Room 3230
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Senate Bill 601 (Allen) – The Right to Clean Water Act – SUPPORT

Dear Chair Blakespear and Members of the Environmental Quality Committee,

The undersigned organizations advocate for the protection of environmental and public health, water quality, and a resilient water future. On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write in strong support of Senate Bill 601 (Allen), The Right Clean Water Act, to put federal Clean Water Act protections into California state law to restore protections California enjoyed for over 50 years while buttressing against Trump Administration rollbacks.

Over 50 years ago the federal government delegated Clean Water Act authority to California to issue Clean Water Act permits and develop policies to protect our state’s waters. California’s federally-derived authority is defined and limited by what are “waters of the United States.” If a California water is not a “water of the United States,” then it is not protected under the Clean Water Act; instead, the State Water Board may only use its state authority, which results in less protective policies, less efficient permitting, and less accountability.

Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision (Sackett v. EPA) that stripped many California streams and wetlands of federal Clean Water Act protections, leaving state waters highly vulnerable to pollution. The Trump Administration has also announced plans to further erode the Clean Water Act via a new, narrower “waters of the United States” rule. Other federal rollbacks will further hinder California’s ability to protect its waterways.

Federal rollbacks will not only result in the loss of protections, but will also put an insurmountable burden on the California Water Boards to re-write federal permits as state permits via a different process with different applicable standards. Currently, there are no state general permits akin to California’s federal general permits, meaning tens of thousands of state permits could be necessary – all requiring individual CEQA compliance. The California Water Boards would also lose – and have already lost – certain critical enforcement tools necessary to hold polluters accountable and provide an even playing field for the regulated community.

The Right to Clean Water Act will restore and preserve 50 years of federal protections by codifying them in state law to ensure California’s clean water protections do not go backwards. The Act would provide California with the same Clean Water Act tools it had before Trump and Sackett, while assisting the resource-constrained California Water Boards. The Act would ensure clean water protections remain at least as protective as they did prior to the Sackett decision, while disincentivizing “permit shopping” and allowing the California Water Boards to essentially create state-analogous Clean Water Act permits through a streamlined approach.

Californians have enjoyed 50 years of Clean Water Act protections. The U.S. Supreme Court’s misguided and incongruent decision for California cannot demand that we go backwards. The Trump Administration will only further weaken federal clean water protections and make it more difficult for California to regulate our waterways via federal law. SB 601 will bolster state law to safeguard California from federal turbulence on clean water protections. For these reasons, we urge your ‘aye’ vote on SB 601 to protect the health of communities and the environment, now and for future generations.

Sincerely,