“"While it is reasonable for EPA to retain a limited authority to halt a project when there is potential for a genuinely unacceptable environmental impact, the authority granted to the agency under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act is too broad. Currently, the agency has an open-ended veto and can shut down a project before the permit application is filed, while it is under review, or after the permit has been approved and work has already begun,"

“"So that's why we want to focus the administration's attention on this problem that could undo all of the good work that they're doing to speed up permitting,"

“the statute gives EPA broad authority to veto or revoke permits even after the Army Corps of Engineers has issued them, potentially putting projects already under construction at risk under future administrations

“EPA should retain some authority to stop projects that pose genuinely unacceptable environmental risks but argued that the current authority is too broad

“the agency could impose constraints, including requiring officials to consider costs imposed on permit holders and their reliance on previously issued permits

“"The environmental movement and the climate movement groups are focused on anything related to fossil fuels, and so any project that is likely to become controversial and political that they can make — that these groups can make politically controversial — would then seem to me to be, have the threat of a veto, and that would, I think, that would just drive away investors and companies from all these projects,"

“"If President Trump issued the executive order, it might help provide a real signal of the importance that the administration places on having such a 404(c) veto issue included into the permitting reform package,"

“an executive order from Trump highlighting the issue could pressure EPA to pursue a durable administrative solution while signaling to lawmakers that the Section 404(c) provision should be addressed in broader permitting legislation