The   Clean   Water  Authority  Restoration  Act
Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and  James   Jeffords
(I-VT)   introduced   the   bill   in   the  Senate.  Representatives  James
Oberstar (D-8th, MN), John Dingell (D-16th, MI), Jim Leach (R-1st, IA) and
Sherwood Boehlert (R-23rd, NY) introduced the companion bill in the House of
Representatives.

Thanks to Rep. Jim Leach for cosponsoring this bill.  And thanks to members
of the Cedar-Wapsie Group and Iowa City Group who met with him, and for
those members of Eagle View and Leopold Groups who contacted him.

NEWS RELEASE
408 C Street N.E. Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202)547-1141
Fax: (202)547-6009
www.sierraclub.org

February 27, 2003
For Immediate ReleaseContact:
Ed Hopkins, 202-675-7908

SIERRA CLUB PRAISES BILL TO RESTORE VITAL CLEAN WATER PROTECTIONS
Sierra Club Urges Americans To Ask their Members of Congress to Support
Clean Water Legislation

Washington, DC: The Sierra Club today applauded the introduction of the
"Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2003" as an important step for
safeguarding wetlands, small streams and ponds from mining and other
industrial waste dischargers and developers. These waterbodies perform
critically important functions, including storing floodwater, filtering
pollution, replenishing groundwater and providing habitat for birds, fish
and other wildlife.

"This bill clarifies that Congress intends for Clean Water Act protection to
extend to all of the nation's waters, including the so-called isolated
wetlands, streams, ponds and other waterbodies that play such an integral
role in our environment," said Carl Pope, Executive Director. "Allowing
pollution of a seemingly-isolated stream is likely to result in pollution of
groundwater or downstream waters. These waters are really not isolated, and
if we want to minimize flooding, have clean water, and provide habitat to
the many species that depend on our waters, we should safeguard all the
nation's waters."

The bill is a response to a Supreme Court ruling in 2001 which dealt a
serious blow to the protection of the nation's waters by narrowing federal
authority to control water pollution in seasonal wetlands and other waters
that lack permanent surface connections to flowing waters, including prairie
potholes, playa lakes, vernal pools, Carolina Bays, and intermittent and
ephemeral streams.

The Supreme Court ruling in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County
(SWANCC) v. Army Corps of Engineers overturned the federal government's
long-held authority under the Clean Water Act to protect non-navigable,
intrastate, isolated wetlands, streams and other waterbodies from pollution
based on their use by migratory birds. The Court's 5-4 majority opinion went
beyond the ruling by throwing into question whether federal Clean Water Act
protections apply to any wetlands, streams and other waters that may be
considered isolated. In the wake of confusion created by the Court's
opinion, varying interpretations have been applied by the agencies and in
the courts. In some areas of the country, the ruling was seen as setting
aside federal protection of waterbodies that are not immediately adjacent to
rivers and streams used for navigation.

Last month, the Bush Administration issued policy guidance and an Advance
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that go beyond the Supreme Court's decision in
narrowing the scope of the Clean Water Act. The EPA has estimated that the
guidance could remove Clean Water Act protection from as much as 20 percent,
or some 20 million acres, of the nation's wetlands. This estimate does not
even consider the additional extent of streams, ponds and other waters that
industry is likely to claim are "isolated" and unprotected.

The Sierra Club welcomed the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2003
as a critical step to restore broad protection from uncontrolled discharges
of pollution and filling of wetlands. The Sierra Club urges citizens to call
their members of Congress and ask them to support this important bill.

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