Outreach and Engagement
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EPA conducts outreach and engagement efforts with stakeholders and members of the public to ensure effective implementation of CWA Section 401.
Recent Public Engagement Opportunities
On January 13, 2026, EPA announced proposed revisions to the existing Section 401 water quality certification regulations. Stakeholders, interested parties, and members of the public provided comments on the proposed rule. First, EPA hosted public meetings on January 28 and February 5, 2026; meeting transcripts are available in the official docket (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2025-2929). Second, EPA accepted written public comments on the proposed rule for 30 days (docket closed on February 17, 2026). Comments submitted during the public comment period will be posted to the official docket as they are processed; please note that it may take some time for these comments to appear online.
Pre-Proposal Public Engagement Efforts
On July 1, 2025, the agency announced a Federal Register notice initiating a series of stakeholder listening sessions and a 30-day recommendations docket inviting written feedback on regulatory uncertainty or implementation challenges associated with the Clean Water Act Section 401 certification process as defined in the 2023 Rule.
- Press Release
- CWA 401 Notice (Pub Date: July 7, 2025; Public Comment Period: July 7 through August 6, 2025)
- Docket (ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0272).
The Agency hosted two webinar-based listening sessions on July 16 and 30, 2025, to solicit feedback on the questions identified in the Federal Register notice. These sessions were open to States, Tribes, project proponents, and the public. The background slides presented during the public listening sessions are available for download.
Additionally, EPA accepted written feedback on regulatory uncertainty or implementation challenges related to the 2023 Rule for 30 days (July 7 through August 6, 2025). Written feedback on the notice can be viewed in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2025-0272.
Previous Engagement Efforts
EPA has conducted several outreach and engagement efforts on CWA Section 401. Below are example webinars EPA conducted on the regulatory requirements in 2023.
- General Public Webinar (Video | Slides) (Recorded on September 26, 2023)
- Section 401 & Treatment in a Similar Manner as a State (TAS) Webinar (Video | Slides) (Recorded on October 17, 2023)
- Certifying Authority Webinar (Video | Slides) (Recorded on September 28, 2023)
- Federal Agency Webinar (Video | Slides) (Recorded on October 3, 2023)