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Safeguarding the Clean Water Act

On April 9, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the Clean Water Restoration Act, legislation to protect all of America’s rivers, lakes, streams and other waterways from unrestricted pollution and development.  The House of Representatives has scheduled an April 16 hearing on the bill.

Brief Summary

Over the last 30 years, we have made significant progress in cleaning up our water, but we still have important work to do. Many of America’s great waterways from the Mississippi River to the Chesapeake Bay to the Great Lakes are struggling from too much pollution.

Instead of improving the quality of our water, the Bush administration is weakening water protections. The Bush administration has put in place a No Protection policy for America’s waters that removes basic Clean Water Act safeguards from small streams, wetlands and ponds that feed and clean our great waters. The No Protection policy puts these streams, wetlands and other waters at risk of unlimited development, pollution and destruction.

Environment Minnesota is calling on the Bush administration to drop the No Protection policy and for Congress to restore the original intent of the Clean Water Act to protect all waters in the U.S.

Additionally, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Rapanos has left the extent of existing clean water protections in question. Absent some corrective action from Congress, the Rapanos decision could leave some vital wetlands, sensitive streams, and other water bodies open to unregulated pollution, dredging or fill. Environment Minnesota opposes any efforts by powerful developers and other polluters to weaken the Clean Water Act. We support efforts, local state and federal to ensure clean and safe water supplies for all Americans.