HOW THE CLEAN WATER ACT COULD BECOME A DIRTY WATER RULE
On February 14, the Trump Administration published a proposed federal rule that would roll back protection for streams and wetlands across the United States. But we don’t have this accept this awful valentine — Write to the Administration today and let them know that you support healthy rivers and clean water.Urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to abandon this “Dirty Water Rule.”
The story behind this rule is a little complicated. Here’s the background:
The extent of the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (the Act) over the nation’s waters has been contested almost since the Act was passed into law in 1972. Opponents of the Act – associations purporting to represent developers, agricultural interests, and industry groups – seek to narrow the Act’s application, leaving as many of the nation’s streams and wetlands as possible beyond the law’s reach. Conversely, champions of rivers, wetlands and clean water – like your friends at American Rivers – argue that the Act’s call to protect the “waters of the United States” extends to the small streams and isolated wetlands that are so vital to clean water and the health of freshwater ecosystems. After all, we can’t adequately protect the waters of the U.S. if we ignore the small streams and wetlands from which they spring.
For More: https://www.americanrivers.org/2019/03/how-the-clean-water-act-could-become-a-dirty-water-rule/