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Bush Administration to strip Clean Water Act protections

The Bush Administration is attempting to dramatically weaken the Clean Water Act. The proposed rules would reduce the number of wetlands, streams, lakes and ponds that are entitled to federal protection under the Clean Water Act. Stripping those waters of protection will open the way for developers, mining companies, and other polluters to discharge their pollution into waterways, and fill in and develop many kinds of wetlands, small streams, ponds or other waters. All of these waters are critical to the U.S. economy as well as to our environment because they replenish groundwater supplies, filter drinking water sources, store floodwaters, and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat. They are where life begins in the nation's watersheds.

The Bush Administration also began a process to make even more drastic changes to the geographic scope of the Clean Water Act that would allow dumping in and destruction of small streams, tributaries, natural ponds and other wetlands that the act has protected for decades. The Administration is pressing ahead with its plans, so it may be up to Congress to put the brakes on this latest assault on one of our most fundamental environmental protections.

Background

The new proposals attempt to respond to recent court cases by directing Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff to immediately stop asserting Clean Water Act jurisdiction over certain so-called "isolated" waters based on the fact that migratory birds use the water. Unfortunately, the proposed rules would also mean that many other "isolated" intrastate, non-navigable waters are no longer protected and would require a case-by-case decision to be made in Washington, D.C. in order to continue to protect them.

Among several serious problems with these proposals is they will open the way for developers, mining companies, and other polluters to argue with the Corps and EPA that all kinds of wetlands, small streams, non-navigable ponds or other waters are "isolated." In other words, the potential for these policies to be abused is great: they will be used to try to allow destruction and pollution of waters that have been protected by the Clean Water Act and its regulations for 30 years.

In addition, the Corps and EPA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which initiates a process that could strip as much as 20 percent of U.S. wetlands from protection under the Clean Water Act. In combination, as many as 20 million acres of U.S. wetlands are at risk, including "isolated" intrastate playas, vernal pools and other wetlands. This estimate does not even count the small streams, creeks and ponds that could also be lost. All of these waters are critical to the U.S. economy as well as to our environment because they replenish groundwater supplies, filter drinking water sources, store floodwaters, and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat.

What you can do:

Please submit comments postmarked by March 3 to:

Water Docket: Attn: Docket ID No. OW-2002-0050
Environmental Protection Agency
Mailcode 4101T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Points to make in your letter:

• 1) Urge the EPA to not to weaken the Clean Water Act.
• 2) Tell them to withdraw their proposal so that bodies of water that enjoy protection under the Clean Water Act won't be vulnerable to development.
• 3) The Clean Water Act is a landmark law has helped clean up many of our nation's waterways. But this proposal would let polluters discharge wastes into more and more of our streams and wetlands without fear of prosecution.
• 4) The guidance attached to the proposal strips protections from many wetlands and the notice of proposed rulemaking opens the door to stripping protections from far more wetlands, as well as streams, lakes and ponds.

Please also send a letter to your U.S. Senators at the following addresses and ask them to help protect the Clean Water Act and urge President Bush to stop the dismantling of our landmark environmental laws. If you live in California, your U. S. Senators are:

Senator Barbara Boxer
1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: (415) 403 0100
Fax: (415) 956-6701

Senator Dianne Feinstein
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707
Fax: (415) 393-0710