-----Original Message-----
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Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 12:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: TAKE ACTION: Ensure that the Clean Water Act continues to
protect our waters
Importance: High






Ensure that the Clean Water Act continues to protect our waters

ACTION: Urge your Representative to join Representative Oberstar as an
original cosponsor of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act when he
re-introduces this bill early in the 109th Congress.

The Bush administration is withdrawing federal protection from many
wetlands, streams and ponds, leaving them vulnerable to pollution or
destruction.   The "Clean Water Authority Restoration Act" is an important
step for safeguarding these waters from pollution from industry and
developers. Please urge your representative to support the Clean Water
Authority Restoration Act so that we can continue the progress we've made
under the Clean Water Act.

The Administration is using a 2001 Supreme Court ruling as justification
for abandoning many small streams, wetlands and ponds. This action would
leave communities at risk from increased flooding, degraded drinking water,
exposure to bacteria, pathogens and toxics.  Ask your representative to be
an original cosponsor the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act to ensure
that the Clean Water Act will continue to keep all of our nation's waters
healthy and safe.


Background:

Early in the 109th Congress, Congressman James Oberstar (MN) will introduce
important legislation to protect wetlands and other waters. The Clean Water
Authority Restoration Act responds to the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
which dealt a serious blow to the protection of the nation's waters by
narrowing federal authority to control water pollution.

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
questioned 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 all
waters that are not immediately adjacent to rivers and streams used for
navigation.

In January 2003, the Bush administration issued an immediate policy
guidance that would remove protections from many of our small streams,
ponds and wetlands that appear to be disconnected from major rivers and
lakes.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the guidance
alone places at risk 20% of the United States' remaining wetlands, some 20
million acres. Many more small streams and ponds could also be excluded.

The Clean Water Authority Restoration Act provides the long-term solution.
The legislation would clarify that Congress intends for Clean Water Act
protections to apply to all such waters as waters of the United States,
based on a longstanding definition of waters of the United States in Army
Corps of Engineers regulations. The bill would also delete the word
"navigable" from the Clean Water Act to clarify that the primary concern of
Congress in 1972, and now, is the protection of the nation's waters from
pollution, rather than just to sustain the navigability of waterways.

Don't know who your Representative is?  Go to http://www.house.gov/ or call
202-224-3121 to find out who represents you.


_______________________________
Navis Bermudez
Washington Representative
Clean Water/CAFO Campaign
Environmental Quality Program
202.675.2392

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