WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency’s revisions to the Clean Water Act will protect culturally important resources from dangerous levels of contaminants. The final rule upholds the federal government’s trust responsibility to Tribes by requiring states to protect Tribal hunting, fishing and other rights when setting water quality standards for rivers, streams and lakes.

“The ability to gather native foods, harvest wildlife for sustenance, and access clean water to support farming, fishing, and subsistence, as well as cultural and ecological needs, is central to who Indigenous peoples are,” said Garrit Voggesser, senior director of Tribal partnership and policy at the National Wildlife Federation. “The new rule protects those rights and opens the conversation to now address self-determination and consent in deciding a body of water’s designated use.”

“Indigenous peoples are the original hunters and anglers and have a right to the protections this rule allocates,” said Aaron Kindle, director of sporting advocacy at the National Wildlife Federation. “When rivers and waterways are contaminated, pollutants harm both people and wildlife, resulting in compounding negative impacts on the ecosystem as a whole.”