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EPA Announced Final Water Quality Standards Regulatory Revisions to Protect Tribal Reserved Rights
The EPA is pleased to announce that registration for the June 2024 Virtual Water Quality Standards Academy is now OPEN. Registration is free and open to the public. Registration will close on May 22nd, or when capacity is reached.

On April 26, 2024, the EPA Administrator signed a final rule that revises the Water Quality Standards (WQS) regulation at 40 CFR Part 131 to explicitly address how the EPA and states must consider Tribal reserved rights. It is defined in this rule as rights to Clean Water Act-protected aquatic and/or aquatic-dependent resources reserved to Tribes through treaties, statutes, or executive orders in establishing WQS, where Tribes assert these rights for consideration. This rule creates a regulatory framework that will be applied consistently to help ensure that future WQS reflect consideration of and provide protection for applicable Tribal reserved rights, such as the right to fish for subsistence and/or gather wild rice.

For more information, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/wqs-tech/revising-federal-water-quality-standards-regulation-protect-tribal-reserved-rights

Final Rule Fact Sheet: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-05/tribal-reserved-rights-final-rule_fact-sheet_508.pdf