The Bush Administration's Record on the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act Thanks to the Clean Water Act, we have made great progress in protecting America's water. Today about 60 percent of our streams and 55 percent of lakes are safe for swimming and fishing, compared to just 30 to 40 percent in 1972. We've slowed down the rate at which sprawl and development are gobbling up our wetlands and we've increased the number of communities served by sewage treatment facilities. But we have a long way to go to achieve the Clean Water Act's goal of making all waters in the U.S. safe for swimming and fishing. Despite the progress we have made, 218 million Americans live within ten miles of a polluted waterway. Pollution from agriculture, sewage treatment facilities, and urban stormwater continues to threaten our nation's water quality. Health agencies warn people to limit their consumption of fish caught in the Great Lakes and most of our coastal waters. After more than ten years of a "no-net-loss" policy, we are still losing 60,000 acres of wetlands each year. We must redouble our efforts and build on the Clean Water Act's successes. The key to progress lies with the American people, who value their right to clean water. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration continues to protect polluting special interests instead of our families and our communities. In a variety of ways, the Administration has acted or is making plans to let polluters and developers off the hook by weakening protections for our waters and wetlands. The progress we've made in cleaning up the nation's waters over the past three decades is in jeopardy. Some of the Bush Administration's decisions and initiatives that pose the greatest threat to our nation's water quality are listed below. -Making it legal to bury streams with mining and other waste: On May 3, 2002, the Bush Administration made key changes to a Clean Water Act rule legalizing the burying of streams with waste from mountaintop removal coal mining. -Stopping rules to reduce overflows of raw sewage: Since January 2001, the Bush Administratio has held up a proposed Clinton Administration rule that would have required municipalities to control releases of raw sewage and warn health authorities when they occur. -Approving weak state water quality rules- On November 26, 2001, the Bush Administration approved water quality rules proposed by West Virginia that will make it easier to add new pollution to West Virginia waters than in other states. -Expediting permits for wetlands destruction: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers implemented a new Nationwide Permit (NWP) system under the Clean Water Act on January 15, 2002. The Corps' new permit system weakens reforms the Clinton Administration made in 2000, which included restricting wetland and stream destruction in floodplains and limiting the size of wetlands-destroying development. -Abandoning the "no-net-loss" wetlands policy: On October 31, 2001, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unilaterally decided to abandon a "no-net-loss" policy for wetlands. Under the new policy, replacement of destroyed wetlands can be achieved through preservation or enhancement of existing wetlands, or by creating small buffer strips along streams and other waterways. None of these types of mitigation can compensate for loss of natural wetlands. -Threatening to eliminate all federal protection for many streams and wetlands: On September 19, 2002, Bush Administration officials told a congressional subcommittee that the Administration would propose new regulations redefining which waterways are covered by the Clean Water Act. Based on this testimony, periodically dry streams found in the upper reaches of headwaters, non-navigable tributaries, and wetlands adjacent to tributary streams might lose protection that the Clean Water Act currently provides. -Delaying the cleanup of dirty waters: The EPA is designing weaker rules to implement the Clean Water Act's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. The EPA's new proposal attempts to weaken the federal government's mandate to issue cleanup plans when states fail to do so; allows increased discharges from factories and sewage treatment plants based on speculative and unenforceable reductions in runoff pollution; and creates new ways for states to take waterbodies off the cleanup list without reducing pollution. -Stalling water quality standards for nitrogen and phosphorus: In June 1998, the EPA announced a national strategy to establish standards for nitrogen and phosphorus. With the EPA's assistance, the strategy called for states to develop water quality standards for these pollutants by the end of 2004. Despite the importance of controlling nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, it seems highly unlikely that the Bush Administration will adhere to the timeline established in 1998. -Promoting a new program for water pollution trading: The EPA released a proposal on April 25, 2002, calling for the creation of a pollution crediting system in each state. This voluntary initiative, which is not permitted under the Clean Water Act, would allow some polluters to discharge more waste by purchasing credits from other polluters who discharge less than their legal limit. Erin E. Jordahl Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 515-277-8868 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]