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Stop the Bush Administration's Dirty Water Acts
October 18, 2002 marked the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, a day when Americans expected the Bush administration to demonstrate its commitment to protecting the quality of our nation’s waters and strengthening this vital law. Remarkably, the administration has instead mounted an all-out effort to dismantle the Clean Water Act. STOP THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S DIRTY WATER ACTS! SEND A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS TODAY TO SUPPORT CLEAN WATER!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Stop the Bush Administration's Dirty Water Acts!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Thirty years ago Congress passed the Clean Water Act to protect our nation from the devastating effects of water pollution. While we have this law to thank for restoring many waters across the country, water pollution is not a thing of the past. Forty-five percent of our waters remain unsafe for drinking, swimming, fishing and aquatic life. Instead of addressing these continuing pollution problems, the Bush administration has mounted an all-out effort to dismantle the Clean Water Act.
In this 30th anniversary year, I urge you to fulfill the Clean Water Act's promise of clean and safe water for everyone. Please support the following efforts to protect this vital law.
1. Co-sponsor legislation reaffirming Clean Water Act protections for all waters of the United States, including tributaries, wetlands, and streams. Bills have been introduced in the Senate and House - the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act (S 2780 / HR 5194) - to confirm that ALL these waters must continue to be covered under the Act's jurisdiction.
2. Oppose Bush administration efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act's program for cleaning up polluted waters (known as the Total Maximum Daily Loads program).
3. Support the Clean Water Protection Act to prevent polluters from getting permits to bury waters with mining waste and other industrial wastes (HR 4683).
Clean water is essential to our health, our economy, our environment, and our way of life. Now is the time to achieve the law's unmet promise of clean water for all Americans. Please support these and other actions in Congress to save the Clean Water Act.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
October 16, 2002
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The Clean Water Act is commonly viewed as one of the country’s most successful environmental laws. In many ways, the Act truly did turn the tide on water pollution: the percentage of waters deemed unsafe for fishing and swimming has been dramatically reduced, billions of dollars have been invested in sewage treatment plants and other technologies, and the rate of wetlands loss has dropped.
Unfortunately, on this milestone in the Clean Water Act’s history, the Bush administration is taking away the tools that made the law successful. The EPA is dismantling the program to clean up polluted waters, and has already changed a longstanding regulation allowing mining and other industrial wastes to be dumped into our waters. Even worse, in September - just a month shy of the 30th anniversary - the administration announced that it plans to propose new regulations that could remove many waterbodies from coverage under the Clean Water Act.
Keeping Dirty Water Dirty -- According to the EPA, an overwhelming majority of the nation’s population - 218 million people - live within 10 miles of a polluted river, lake, or coastal water. On August 7, the EPA announced that it intends to rewrite the Clean Water Act’s plan for decontaminating our waters. The changes to this plan, known as the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program, include a proposal to weaken standards for determining whether waters are polluted. The EPA is also proposing a reduction in federal oversight of the states' implementation of this vital program. If finalized, the Bush administration’s proposal will ensure dirty waters remain polluted and allow more waters to become polluted for decades to come.
More Waste in Waters -- The central purpose of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation’s waters. Yet, on May 3, 2001 the Bush administration eliminated a 25 year-old Clean Water Act regulation prohibiting the Army Corps of Engineers from permitting wastes to destroy U.S. waters. The rule change was motivated by efforts to legalize mountaintop removal mining, where coal companies blast the tops off of mountains, allowing huge volumes of waste to bury valley streams, wetlands, and kill all aquatic life. The Bush proposal would allow the Corps to issue permits to all kinds of industries to dump wastes like hardrock mining waste, construction and demolition debris, and other solid industrial wastes into waterways. The Clean Water Act was designed to prevent waters from becoming waste dumps.
Waters Lose Protection -- The most recent and disturbing setback to the Clean Water Act was announced in testimony before Congress on September 19. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said they now question whether the Act should apply to tributaries, intermittent and ephemeral streams, and most wetlands. There is no scientific or legal basis for excluding these waters from federal protection, yet the administration has announced plans to issue a new rule to do just that. These waters drain into larger waterbodies and groundwater sources. If they lose protection under the Clean Water Act, pollution could destroy vital water resources. This proposal could reverse almost thirty years of national policy to protect the nation’s waters and has grave implications for the control of pollution, the health of communities, the protection of habitat, and flood control efforts.
Contact your Senators and Representatives today and ask them to stop the Bush administration’s Dirty Water Acts!
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