In a move that favors greater state influence over permitting for natural gas pipelines, a California federal judge has vacated a Trump-era U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule designed to streamline Clean Water Act (CWA) approvals.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, overseeing the case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, on Thursday vacated a rule finalized last year that established limits on state authority over CWA Section 401 decisions. 

The changes under the Trump administration had aimed to prevent indefinite delays to infrastructure projects cleared by agencies such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission..

Responding to legal challenges brought by states, tribes and conservation groups, Alsup ordered that the Trump-era...