The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is responsible for ensuring that the proposed project complies with all state water quality standards, including obtaining a section 401 water quality certification as defined in Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1341(a). Section 401 certification process requires states to assess whether a federal-permitted project, that discharges into the states navigable water, violates the state’s water quality standards.

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and the Virginia State Water Control Board issued the 401 Water Quality Certification to ACP on December 20, 2017. CBF along with local co-plaintiffs filed a Petition for Review of this decision with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit located in Richmond, VA on January 19, 2018. CBF and our co-plaintiffs allege that DEQ and the Water Control Board lacked sufficient information to find “reasonable assurance” that the proposed ACP would not violate state water quality standards, as required by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In addition, the certification was issued without providing adequate public notice and comment opportunities throughout the certification process.

CBF’s case was consolidated with an appeal filed by Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”) representing several organizations, including Appalachian Voices, Sierra Club, and Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Arguments were held on September 28, 2018 in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals located in Richmond, Virginia and on January 14th, in a published opinion, the Court denied the joint petition for review and upheld the water quality certification issued for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.