Press Releases

Bristol Bay Protection Act codifies 2023 EPA decision

WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Mary Peltola (AK-AL) introduced the Bristol Bay Protection Act, new legislation that would codify a 2023 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to veto the Pebble Mine – a proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mining project in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska – under Clean Water Act section 404(c) ,into federal law.

“I came to DC to stand up for fish – to make fishing and the livelihoods of our fishing communities the national issue it deserves to be,” said Rep. Peltola. “Whole communities rely on Bristol Bay’s watershed for subsistence and as a deeply interwoven part of their social and cultural practices. In introducing this bill, we’re moving to protect our fisheries and streams, water supply, and the deep value that these waters have had to Alaska Natives who have relied on them for thousands of years.”

Full bill text is available HERE.

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