On September 12, a wide spectrum of conservation groups announced they are opposing the Trump Administration’s rollback of the 2015 federal Clean Water Rule [Waters of the U.S. Rule], finalized Thursday. The groups said the Administration’s action will leave roughly 50 percent of wetlands and 60 percent of stream miles across the country vulnerable to pollution and destruction.
The 2015 federal Clean Water Rule had clarified longstanding Clean Water Act protections for millions of acres of wetlands and many headwater streams that protect communities from flooding, contribute to the drinking water supplies of one in three Americans, and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat that supports a robust outdoor recreation economy worth $887 billion.
“These actions continue the Administration’s assault on clean water. The repeal ignores EPA’s own science and the lengthy and inclusive process that was used to develop the 2015 rule," said Lisa Feldt, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Vice President for Environmental Protection and Restoration. "And, unfortunately, we expect the Administration's forthcoming replacement rule to go even further and remove federal protections from many waterways and wetlands that have been in place since the inception of the Clean Water Act. Maintaining the health of these waterways and wetlands is crucial to protecting downstream waters.
“The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is designed to put practices on the ground to restore water quality in local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. Removing wetland protections will make the Blueprint more difficult to achieve,” added Feldt.
“Since the WOTUS rule was proposed in 2014, NACD has been working continuously to advocate for its reversal,” National Association of Conservation Districts President Tim Palmer said. “Yesterday's announcement is a positive step forward for locally-led conservation and brings a greater level of certainty for producers and landowners who are stewards of our land and water.”
“For more than 75 years, conservation districts have been leaders in locally-led efforts to ensure a clean and sustainable water supply for the nation,” Palmer said. “The nation’s nearly 3,000 conservation districts and the landowners they work with are the best equipped to handle local decision-making, and we applaud the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers for reversing the 2015 rule.”
“We look forward to continue working with the administration to empower locally-led decision-making and protect our nation’s natural resources for the future,” Palmer said.
“Sportsmen and women are outside every day experiencing the benefits of clean water,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Rolling back these protections for wetlands and headwater streams threatens our hunting and fishing traditions and the outdoor economy that powers our communities.”
“No one wants to fish a lake covered in toxic algae, duck hunt in a bulldozed wetland, or pitch a tent next to a creek filled with feces,” says Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Unfortunately, this Administration is working on multiple fronts to rewrite the rules that protect our waters, hoping no one will notice. The collective impact of these changes would be devastating for public health and wildlife across the country—and we will continue to fight to protect America’s waterways every step of the way.”
“Clean water is a basic right of every American,” says Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “To be effective, the Clean Water Act must be able to control pollution at its source. Unfortunately today’s action by the EPA places the health of 60 percent of the stream miles and the drinking water of one in three Americans at risk. Trout Unlimited will not rest, and will use all of the tools at our disposal, to compel EPA to reverse course on this misguided direction.”
“More than 100 million people across the US engage in fish- and wildlife-based recreation, approximately half of whom participate in fishing,” says Patrick Berry, president and CEO of Fly Fishers International. “It is clear the opportunities available to enjoy these outdoor pursuits is directly limited by the health of our natural systems and their ability to support healthy and abundant populations of fish and wildlife. Rolling back protections of wetlands, our lakes streams and rivers—some of the most diverse and productive wildlife habitats—not only compromises our natural heritage, but threatens the cultural and economic value of recreational fishing.”
“This rule will irreparably impact wetlands in America's duck factory – the prairie pothole region – and threaten the health of riparian habitat critical for big game and 80 percent of all wildlife species,” says Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “Weakened protections translate to lost access and reduced opportunities for hunting and fishing. Hunters and anglers must not stand for shortsighted polices that compromise the integrity of fish and wildlife habitats that have been safeguarded for decades under the Clean Water Act.”
“EPA’s decision to repeal the Clean Water Rule is wholly unsupported by science, can’t be squared with the clear intent of the Clean Water Act, and fails the common sense test,” says Scott Kovarovics, Executive Director of Izaak Walton League of America. “To make matters worse, this is only a prelude to the second blow when EPA finalizes a new rule later this year that will further undermine protections for small streams, wetlands, and drinking water supplies across America.”
“The EPA is tossing out 50 years of peer-reviewed science and in doing so threatens to undermine the integrity of the Nation’s waters that support fish and wildlife,” says Doug Austen, executive director of the American Fisheries Society., and former Executive Director of the PA Fish and Boat Commission. “Allowing unchecked pollution and destruction in the waters and wetlands in the upper reaches of a watershed imperils the sustainability of fish stocks in both upstream and downstream waters and places valuable recreational fisheries and endangered species at risk.”
80 percent of sportsmen and women in a 2018 poll said Clean Water Act protections should apply to headwater streams and wetlands. Additionally, 92 percent believe that we should strengthen or maintain current clean water standards, not relax them.
Click Here for more information about the proposed changes to the federal Clean Water Rule from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
PA Chamber
PA Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Gene Barr issued this statement on EPA's action, "As we noted in our comments to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2014, the 'Waters of the United States' rule would have significantly expanded federal jurisdiction to waters already being sufficiently protected by Pennsylvania’s water quality rules.
"This would have resulted in not only saddling businesses with additional confusion over what requirements apply, but the potential for significant civil penalties stemming from that lack of clarity.
"That rule would have cost the United States economic gain for the sake of negligible environmental benefits.
"We are pleased to see the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers move forward with a rulemaking process that incorporates the concerns, goals and shared priorities of all stakeholders.
"It is our hope that this process will result in the development of a durable, workable rule that provides certainty to industry and protection to the environment.”
Visit EPA’s Waters Of The United States Rulemaking webpage for more background on its decision.
[Editor’s Note: Republican and Democratic Secretaries of DEP in Pennsylvania have said the repeal of the waters of the U.S. rule will have no impact here because state laws are stronger than federal laws in protecting streams, rivers and wetlands as waters of the Commonwealth. But it will cause confusion among individuals expecting federal rules to apply in the state.
[The Secretaries of DEP, DCNR, Agriculture and the Fish and Boat Commission pointed out that fact and the potential for confusion in a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on June 19, 2017.]
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