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CLEAN WATER RESTORATION ACT

Water

With the adoption of the Clean Water Act (CWA) nearly 35 years ago, the United States Congress made a promise to protect and improve our nation’s waters for future generations. While much remains to be done, the law has done a great deal to protect the nation’s lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands from unregulated pollution and destruction.

Restore the Clean Water Act NOW!

Congress must act to restore the original intent of the Clean Water Act to protect all waters of the United States. Take action.

View EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s remarks calling for Congress to restore the Clean Water Act:

Background:

Rollbacks to the Clean Water Act

Recent Supreme Court decisions (SWANCC 2001, Rapanos/Carabell 2006) and subsequent federal guidance changes, has limited and confused the scope of federal protection for our nation’s waters. Polluters have argued that the CWA no longer protects numerous wetlands, streams, rivers, lakes, and other waters historically covered by the CWA. Today, our waters are threatened from the lack of federal protection, and are being filled, polluted or destroyed with no legal consequence. Congress must clarify and restore the intent and promise of the Clean Water Act.

What is at stake?

Limiting federal protection of navigable waterways ignores the most important sources of clean water, including headwaters, wetlands, and intermittent streams that are essential for habitat, flood protection, and clean drinking water supplies. Across the nation:

  • Twenty million acres of the nation’s remaining wetlands are at risk from irreversible destruction by draining, filling or degradation.
  • Nearly 2 million river miles, representing almost 60% of America’s stream miles outside of Alaska, could be compromised.
  • Drinking water supplies for more than 110 million people are potentially threatened as a result of relaxed protections for small streams.
  • More than 14,000 industrial facilities may be exempt from pollution permits if facilities are discharging into CWA-exempt wetlands or streams.

Examples of New York and Connecticut water bodies in danger:

  • 66% of wetlands near eastern Lake Ontario;
  • 22% of the wetlands in the NYC water supply watershed;
  • 34% of waterways in the Croton watershed; and
  • 22,400 acres of wetlands in Connecticut, and approximately 442,000 acres throughout New England.

Legislation is the best solution

The Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) would restore the traditional definition of “waters of the United States” intended by Congress. The law would not be giving our nation’s waters new protections; it would simply be restoring the regulatory status quo that had been used since 1972. Americans need these safeguards to achieve the goal of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.

Specifically, CWRA would:

  1. Adopt a definition of “waters of the United States” based on the longstanding definition that the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers have used in their regulations since 1972;
  2. Clarify that the Clean Water Act is principally intended to protect the nation’s waters from pollution, and not just maintain navigability;
  3. Assert that Congress has constitutional authority over the nation’s waters, as defined in the CWA, including so-called “isolated” waters, headwater streams, small rivers, ponds, lakes and wetlands.
  4. Clarifies that his legislation shall not remove any current exemptions to the CWA, including agricultural exemptions.

CWRA has been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 787/Feingold), and we anticipate that it will be introduced in the U.S. House soon.

How you can help:
All New York and Connecticut Senators have signed on as cosponsors of CWRA! Take a moment and email them to thank them for their support. Also, email your representative in the U.S. House, and urge their support of CWRA when it is introduced.

Write to:

CCE's testimony to Congress on the status of nation's waters, including wetlands, under jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (8/10/07)

Updated by dglance 3/30/10