Please take a few minutes this weekend and anytime Monday to send an e-mail on this issue. The comment period on this rule ends on Oct. 16, 2000, so urgent action is necessary. Thanks, Jane Clark OUR STREAMS AND WETLANDS NEED PROTECTION WHAT'S AT STAKE? A loophole in federal wetlands law has led to the destruction of more than 20,000 acres of wetlands and damage to hundreds of miles of streams in just the past two years. You can help stop this devastation by writing a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers before October 16th. Developers are exacerbating sprawl by turning wetlands into strip malls, tract housing and golf courses -- all without any environmental review. Why? They are exploiting a 1998 court ruling that struck down the "Tulloch Rule" and opened a loophole in the Clean Water Act enabling developers and others to do various ditching, draining and excavating projects without public notice or a permit. Everyday more of our wetlands are permanently destroyed and the benefits of wetlands - such as water purification, flood control, and wildlife habitat - are lost forever. Destroying these wetlands and streams harms the quality of our nation's water, aggravates flooding, robs a wide array of birds, fish and wildlife of critical habitat and invites sprawling development in sensitive ecosystems. You can help protect our streams and wetlands by supporting a rule the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed to limit the destructiveness of this loophole and by urging these agencies to do more to stop sprawl from invading sensitive ecosystems. *WHY ACT NOW?* The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have proposed a new regulation to eliminate abuse of the "Tulloch" loophole . The new rule would require loophole "users" to prove that their activities will not release significant amounts of sediment into surrounding water (that is, they will not be producing a "discharge of dredged or fill material," a regulated activity of the Clean Water Act). The proposed new rule, however, needs modifications to ensure that implementation is standardized and consistent in all agency offices. TAKE ACTION: The comment period on this rule ends on Oct. 16, 2000, so urgent action is necessary. Please send the sample letter below to the Army Corps of Engineers today, or write a personal letter making similar points. Sample Letter: Dear Army Corps of Engineers: I am sending this letter in support for the proposed rule to help stem the destruction of streams and wetlands due to the "Tulloch" loophole (65 Fed. Reg 50108 ff). Since a court overturned the Tulloch rule in 1998, thousands of acres of wetland have been ditched and drained and hundreds of miles of streams degraded without any environmental review. Closing the Tulloch loophole will protect streams and wetlands that are home to thousands of birds, fish and other wildlife. Streams and marshes protect our communities by acting as natural sponges, soaking up and filtering water that would otherwise flood our neighborhoods. I strongly urge you to apply the full Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands by strengthening and clarifying the proposed rule as follows: - Provide clarity in the rule that specific activities -- such as sidecasting, stockpiling, clearing, grading, leveling and backfilling -- always require environmental review to ensure that developers are not able to exploit any vagueness within the rule; - Develop stronger language to protect our streams from toxics, heavy metals and other pollutants that are sent downstream by ditching and dredging. · The proposed rule should be strengthened to standardize its enforcement at the local level. The Army Corps must seize this opportunity to protect our nation's streams and wetlands from the widespread destruction this loophole has created. I urge you to finalize the rule with the above revisions as soon as possible. Please count this as my formal comment in support of the proposed rulemaking for limiting the Tulloch loophole. Sincerely, Your Name Email to: (Copy address as is) [log in to unmask] Mr. Mike Smith Office of the Chief of Engineers ATTN CECW-OR (3 F73) Further Revisions to Definition of Discharge or Dredge Material 441 G Street NW Washington, DC 20314-1000 Everyday more of our wetlands are permanently destroyed and the benefits of wetlands - such as water purification, flood control, and wildlife habitat - are lost forever. Destroying these wetlands and streams harms the quality of our nation's water, aggravates flooding, robs a wide array of birds, fish and wildlife of critical habitat and invites sprawling development in sensitive ecosystems. All without any environmental review. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE TULLOCH RULE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are just a few examples of the damage: Developers are draining vast areas of wetlands and replacing them with golf courses, shopping centers and housing developments; Sand and gravel companies, previously denied permits to operate in pristine and vulnerable streams, are now mining these streams for construction materials; and Agriculture interests are widening and straightening the headwaters of streams, destroying habitat and sending large amounts of sediment downstream. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]