At an April 27 hearing, GOP lawmakers blasted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for limiting the scope of the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, before the project’s developer had formally submitted plans and applied for a permit.

但是EPA官员作证说，该机构对该项目没有先入为主的观念。《清洁水法》授予EPA限制或否决疏ge的许可，并填补将对渔业或流域造成持久伤害的活动。2014年，EPA应几个部落，环境和社区团体的要求开始了CWA 404（c）行动。

House Science and Technology Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said, “I feel that this process has been subverted, and Pebble Mine has not had its day in court.” Dennis McLerran, regional administrator for EPA’s Region 10, said the EPA first commissioned a peer-reviewed scientific study. EPA also held eight public hearings and received more than one million comments before moving forward with the proposed 404(c) determination.

批评家认为，EPA的员工不当地反对该项目。但是1月EPA检查员总报告发现“没有证据表明EPA预先确定结果”。Pebble Limited Partnership首席执行官汤姆·科利尔（Tom Collier）表示，该报告反映了该机构“最大程度地减少其自身行为不当的严重性”的趋势。

Kimberly Williams, a spokeswoman for Nunamca Alukestai, which represents local Alaskan tribes and communities, says she participated in the public hearings, adding, “EPA didn’t advocate one way or another … they were very open and accommodating … to all sides.”