On Friday, October 29th, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska vacated the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2019 decision to withdraw the Bristol Bay 404(c) Proposed Determination, reinstating important proposed protections for the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

On September 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would move to vacate its 2019 decision to withdraw proposed protections for Bristol Bay and reinstate the agency’s earlier 2014 Proposed Determination. These proposed protections would limit the amount of waste water and mine waste discharge that could be released in to Waters of the United States in the Bristol Bay region. Image: Blaine Davis

In a ruling published today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trout Unlimited’s lawsuit could move forward in challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2019 decision to withdraw proposed protections for the Bristol Bay watershed. The decision puts an important process back on track for securing immediate safeguards for the region and gets Bristol Bay one step closer to a locally driven, durable solution that ensures the proposed Pebble mine doesn’t resurface again in the future.

Today, Trout Unlimited announced it has appealed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its July 2019 decision to withdraw protections for Bristol Bay’s world-class salmon streams, known as the Bristol Bay 404(c) Proposed Determination for Bristol Bay.  

On Monday, we traded our waders for suits and ties and argued why the lawsuit against the EPA should continue, and why the court should hear from Alaskans who support protecting Bristol Bay.

Today, Trout Unlimited announced their lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the decision to withdraw protections for Bristol Bay that were established in the 2014 Bristol Bay Proposed Determination.