Position #2026-05 – State Primacy and Cooperative Federalism for Western State Water Quality Programs
Policy Summary
Western states are characterized by their arid conditions and limited water resources. Accordingly, they have longstanding and comprehensive legal systems for protecting these limited supplies, including processes to address water quality, that provide the foundational certainty for continued growth and prosperity. The future economic and environmental health of the West depends on the availability of adequate quantities of water of suitable quality.
Western states implement numerous state laws and federally-delegated programs, including the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), to protect water quality to ensure that western water supplies are suitable for their uses. Many states have their own statutory and constitutional authorities to protect water beyond the limits of federal statutes. Given the significant legal, ecologic, hydrologic, and socioeconomic differences across regions, flexibility and strong state-federal partnerships are vital to effective implementation of both state and federal laws. The framework of cooperative federalism serves as the foundation for environmental governance, recognizing the shared responsibilities between states and EPA while preserving primary state authority over water allocation and pollution control. The WSWC strongly advocates for adhering to these cooperative principles to ensure effective implementation of these programs, to maintain an appropriate balance of state and federal authority, and to foster collaborative relationships between federal agencies and western states.
WSWC Urges Congress and the Administration to:
1. Respect the principles of cooperative federalism and apply those principles to build effective partnerships between EPA and western states. Western states implement the majority of CWA and SDWA programs to protect water quality within their states.
2. Recognize that cooperative federalism is particularly important to address the diverse needs of western states. Western states emphasize the need for federal-state relationships that result in implementation of CWA and SDWA programs that effectively protect human health and the environment according to the needs of each western state.
3. Recognize that states are co-regulators for water quality programs, not stakeholders. Meaningful, timely, and substantive consultation and communication with western states are critical for effective program implementation. When developing federal rules, policy, and guidance for CWA and SDWA programs, EPA must engage early and often with the states that implement these programs and best understand their implications. Federal agencies should engage governors, state water agencies, and their appointed representatives early in the development of legislation, regulations, guidance, and other federal actions that have federalism implications for western water quality.
4. Support state decisions for delegated programs. States are co-regulators with EPA in the effort to protect water quality, and possess additional local knowledge, tools tailored to meet unique local needs, and authority over the protection of waters in their respective states. State decisions are generally practical and reasonable efforts to achieve intended outcomes, and oversight should be objective and outcome-oriented.
Core Message
Cooperative federalism is critical to successful water quality protection, particularly to address the diverse needs of western states Both state and federal agencies should remain committed to applying the principles of cooperative federalism to best protect public health and the environment.
What WSWC Is Asking For
WSWC requests that EPA build on existing principles of cooperative federalism by:
1. Supporting states’ efforts to seek primacy of federal programs when they choose to do so and making it a priority to help states through that process.
2. Acknowledging and requesting the input of EPA Region 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 offices, as regional offices work closely with states in their region and can help navigate challenges faced by western states in implementing their programs.
3. Recognizing the importance of WestFAST in implementing and promoting cooperative federalism to best protect water quality in western states.
4. Providing meaningful opportunities for states to address concerns raised by EPA, or meaningful opportunities to resolve disputes with other state, federal, or tribal agencies before EPA makes final decisions that will override a state decision.
5. Improving predictability in permitting and other regulatory processes.
6. Improving EPA’s timelines and engagement with states when reviewing state actions.
Closing Statement
The federal government has at times introduced federal legislation or proposed regulatory actions that are inconsistent with sound principles of cooperative federalism. Federal agencies have, at times, dismissed these principles by engaging in rulemaking processes and procedures without collaborating with relevant state water agencies, and making decisions that unnecessarily hinder western states’ effective implementation of federal programs. WSWC supports efforts to improve communication and collaboration at all levels of government.