Barbara Marvin

[co-author: Samantha Bingaman, 2024 Summer Associate] What Happened? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final Water Quality Standards Revision Rule, which expressly mandated that states, Tribes, and EPA consider Tribal treaty rights to aquatic and aquatic-dependent resources when setting water quality standards nationwide and detailing the requirements and mechanisms for doing so.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (together the Services) have issued three final rules effective May 6, 2024: Revised Regulations Protecting Endangered and Threatened Species (50 CFR 17) (The “Blanket 4(d) Rule”); Revised Regulation for Classifying Species and Designating Critical Habitat (50 CFR 424); and Revised Regulations for Interagency Cooperation (50 CFR 402).

Update: The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) officially kicked off the Nooksack adjudication, a legal process that will determine the priority of water rights in Whatcom County and portions of Skagit County. Specifically, on May 1, 2024, Ecology filed a Statement of Facts and map of Water Resource Inventory Area 1 (WRIA 1) in Whatcom County Superior Court. In its Statement of Facts, Ecology divided WRIA 1 into 10 sub-basins for adjudication.