Fifty years ago, America’s waters were severely polluted. Rivers caught fire, lakes were unsafe to swim, and municipalities struggled to provide people with safe, clean drinking water. The Clean Water Act changed that. While its goal of completely eliminating pollution of our Nation’s waters has not yet been realized, our waters are cleaner today for our enjoyment largely because of the Clean Water Act.

The Clean Water Act’s long-standing and essential protections are now threatened. In 2023, the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA narrowed the Clean Water Act’s scope, threatening federal protections for 600,000 miles of California’s streams and up to 96 percent of the state’s wetlands. According to our State Water Board, “[t]he Sackett Ruling will have significant and widespread consequences for the Clean Water Act and the scope of federal protections over the nation’s waters.” In response to this threat, CCKA introduced Senate Bill 601, the Right to Clean Water Act, to maintain protections for the waterways and wetlands threatened by Sackett. But judicial rollbacks were only the beginning. In March 2025, the Trump Administration announced plans to develop a rule for which waters should and should not be protected by the Clean Water Act.

Compounding those threats from the judiciary and executive branches, in June 2025, Congress introduced a new threat: H.R. 3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act (PERMIT Act). MAGA-Republicans claim it will amend the Clean Water Act to “streamline” permits for industry and development. In reality, the PERMIT Act would gut the Act, weakening long-standing federal protections and putting the health of our waters, wildlife, and communities at risk.

If enacted, the PERMIT Act would:

Remove protections for streams, wetlands, and seasonal waterbodies. By narrowing the definition of “navigable waters,” the PERMIT Act would strip federal protections for many streams, wetlands, and seasonal waterbodies even when they flow into larger rivers and lakes, allowing them to be polluted, filled, or destroyed.

Put polluters’ costs above the health of our waterways. Regulators would be required to consider costs to polluters when setting water quality standards, rather than simply relying on the best available science. This means that standards could be set based on what is cost effective for polluters, not based on what is safe for our waters and communities. 

Give unchecked power to the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. U.S. EPA and the Corps could unilaterally decide to exclude waters from Clean Water Act protections without scientific justification, public input, or oversight. In California, this could result in the loss of protections for smaller waterbodies without consideration of input from local communities.

Weaken pollution control standards. The Clean Water Act currently requires the use of “best available technology” to reduce harmful discharges. The PERMIT Act would lower that bar to best available technologies that are most commonly in use, resulting in weaker standards and discouraging technological innovation.

Strip state and tribal authority. The Clean Water Act empowers states and tribes to block or condition federal projects like pipelines or dams if those projects threaten local water quality. The PERMIT Act would limit this authority, leaving California and tribes with less power to protect our waters.

Lock in outdated permits. Wastewater discharge permits are typically renewed every five years to account for new science and technology. The PERMIT Act would double that to ten years, allowing outdated and unsafe pollution limits to remain in place far longer.

Let polluters off the hook. Dischargers could avoid liability for knowingly releasing harmful pollutants into waterbodies if they fail to disclose them. This would create a significant loophole in accountability.

Limit citizens’ ability to hold polluters accountable. The PERMIT Act would make it more difficult for communities to hold polluters accountable by:

• Imposing a 60-day deadline for lawsuits from the time the challenged permit was issued;
• Limiting who can sue to only those who filed “substantial” comments during the public comment period; and
• Restricting lawsuits to the comment(s) raised by the party during that comment period.

Together, these changes would prioritize shielding polluters, limiting the Clean Water Act’s ability to protect our waters, wildlife, and communities.

The Clean Water Act was enacted to restore and protect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our nation’s waters. Its goal is simple but vital: swimmable, fishable, drinkable water for everyone. The Clean Water Act put public health and science before polluters’ profits. The PERMIT Act threatens to reverse those priorities, putting our waters, wildlife, and communities at risk.

What Can You Do?

Our waters are being threatened by all branches of the federal government. Now, more than ever, California must live up to its reputation as an environmental leader. Call your local state representative and demand they support legislation to “Trump-proof” California from rollbacks to your right to clean water!

Other states including Wisconsin, Colorado, New Mexico, and Maryland, have already acted to strengthen their water protections. California cannot continue to lag behind.

California’s Right to Clean Water Act (SB 601) would safeguard protections here at home. It would (1) empower our Water Boards to issue state permits as strong as those under the federal Clean Water Act, ensuring water quality standards for even our most polluted waterways, (2) provide our state agencies with the tools necessary to maintain clean water protections in an efficient, cost-saving manner; and (3) streamline enforcement to hold polluters accountable.

For more than 50 years, Californians have relied on clean water protections the federal government now seeks to remove. To preserve them, we must insulate our state from federal rollbacks. Call on Governor Newson to act: protect Californians, protect our waters, and pass the Right to Clean Water Act.  

Marty Farrell

Policy Analyst Marty Farrell advocates for statewide policies and programs that protect the health of California’s water.