John Shively severely criticized the EPA assessment, saying it was unscientific and that it sought a predetermined outcome. A few days after the release, Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Begich openly opposed the mine, breaking with the other members of the Alaska congressional delegation, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Republican Representative Don Young. In July 2014, before the project had submitted its EIS, EPA's Region 10 office proposed restrictions pursuant to section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, restrictions that would effectively prohibit the project. This was the twelfth time the clause had been employed since the Act's passage in 1972. On July 18, 2014, in a published statement, Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier said that the project would continue its litigation against EPA; noted that the EPA's action was under investigation by the Office of the EPA Inspector General and by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; and also noted that two bills were pending in the US House and Senate seeking to clarify that EPA did not have the authority to preemptively veto or otherwise restrict development projects prior to the onset of federal and state permitting. Collier's statement also said that EPA's proposal was based on outdated mining scenarios that were not part of the project's approach. In May 2017 the Pebble Partnership and EPA jointly announced they had reached a settlement agreement to end the legal dispute regarding the EPA's Proposed Determination issued under CWA 404(c) in July 2014. The Agreement called for the EPA to withdraw the regulatory action while the Pebble Partnership agreed to terminate outstanding lawsuits brought against the EPA. In July 2017, the EPA sought comments on a proposal to withdraw its objections to the Pebble Mine based on the 1974 Clean Water Act. In February 2018, the EPA changed plans to withdraw restrictions on the Pebble Mine on the basis of the Clean Water Act. Instead, Administrator Pruitt offered support of the fishery. The decision is not final and is open to further public comments. On July 30, 2019, the EPA withdrew its preemptive proposed determination to restrict use of the pebble deposit area as a disposal site. On January 31, 2023, the EPA blocked development of the mine from going forward. The agency invoked its veto power under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, which in the 50-year history of the Clean Water Act, EPA had issued just