On February 19, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing: Improving the Federal Environmental Review and Permitting Processes. Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee, highlighting opportunities for Congress to responsibly streamline the Clean Water Act by eliminating persistent statutory barriers to state assumption and enhancing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency processes. Specifically, the letter urged Congress to authorize Endangered Species Act Section 7 liability protection to flow through state or tribal Section 404 enforcement agencies; authorize states and tribes that assume Section 404 authority to issue permits of equivalent duration to USACE Section 404 permits; clarify that states and tribes may assume authority to issue Section 404 permits for discharges into a portion of assumable waters; and authorize expenditure of EPA Wetland Development Grant Program funding to offset continuing state Section 404 implementation costs by supplementing state fee-for-service revenues.