We all deserve clean water and to have a say in what happens in our own backyards. But reports from Capitol Hill indicate that lawmakers could act soon to weaken fundamental environmental protections.

The proposed changes would limit the ability of states and tribes to address water quality concerns associated with pipelines, power plants and other major infrastructure projects. Additional changes would make it easier for projects to be built in communities without local residents having a say or even finding out beforehand.

Congress has proposed these changes as part of an effort to speed up the approval and construction of new infrastructure projects. But studies have repeatedly shown that projects get permitted and built more quickly when there is more community engagement — not less. That’s because early and robust local engagement results in better projects and less community opposition.

Speeding up projects should not come at the expense of clean water, environmental safeguards or meaningful public participation.

Under the proposal, developers could face fewer requirements to consider water quality and community concerns before moving forward with major projects. That could make it easier to build infrastructure without giving states and local residents a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their health, environment and quality of life.

Nobody understands a community better than the people who live there. That’s why it’s so important for local residents to have a say in what happens to them and their neighbors.

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The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, protects the nation’s rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands from pollution. It establishes water quality standards and requires permits for activities that discharge pollutants into waterways.

Under Section 401, states and tribes can review federally permitted projects to ensure they meet water quality standards, giving communities an important voice in protecting clean water and public health. The reported changes to the Clean Water Act would weaken the ability of states and tribes to protect their waters under the law.

The National Environmental Policy Act is a 55-year-old bedrock environmental law that people like you can use to find out when new polluting projects are proposed and make sure your voice is heard. It also allows residents to sue to make sure the government follows the law. But the Trump-Vance administration and some members of Congress are trying to make it harder for you to participate in government decisions about projects that impact you and your community.

Federal agencies are already making it harder for members of the public to learn about and comment on proposed projects. For example:

• The Department of the Interior finalized regulations that will significantly reduce the number of projects for which a public comment period is required.
• The Forest Service proposed changes to reduce public comment windows to only 10 or 20 days, and would eliminate the requirement that notices about public comment periods be posted in local newspapers.

And Congress is considering passing bills that would further gut NEPA and shut out the people most affected by decisions about what gets built and where.
Changes to NEPA that have passed the House and are being considered in the Senate include:

• Allowing agencies to ignore scientific information that becomes available after a project application is filed.
• Sharply limiting the window of time in which residents affected by a project can sue a federal agency for failing to properly follow the law.
• Restricting who can sue an agency under NEPA, making it harder for impacted communities to hold agencies accountable.

These changes would diminish the public’s voice and allow agencies to sidestep accountability to the law and dodge their responsibility to consider the best available information.

A real barrier to faster project permitting is limited staff and funding at agencies and departments like the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy that do NEPA permitting work. The Trump-Vance administration is making that situation worse by cutting agency staff.

Your voice is on the line! Senators are weighing cuts to clean water protections and public participation now. Tell your lawmakers to vote “NO” on changes to our environmental laws that cut the public out.