FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 8, 2010

Contact:  Neila Seaman – 515-778-5573 (cell)

               Wally Taylor – 319-350-5807 (cell)

LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE PASSES WATER PROTECTION RULE

Des Moines, IA – Members of the Administrative Rules Review Committee (ARRC), a legislative oversight committee, took steps toward cleaner water for Iowa today when it allowed water pollution regulations to pass without legislative intervention.

An antidegradation rule, passed by the Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) in December, will require cities and industries requesting higher pollution limits to review carefully how much additional pollution is actually necessary and always to choose the least polluting alternative that is affordable to the community.  The rule also puts some of Iowa's best waters into a special category that will grant those waters extra protection from cities, industries and urban sprawl. 

“Passing the rule and the implementation policy brings Iowa closer to complying with the 1972 Clean Water Act,” said Neila Seaman, Director of the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter. 

Legislators approved the rule in spite of a motion by Sen. Merlin Bartz (R-Grafton) to object to the rule.  Ultimately, legislators passed the rule because otherwise they would have to prove that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was being capricious or unreasonable or the rule was beyond the jurisdiction of the agency. 

Wally Taylor, legal chair of the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, told legislators that “The DNR has done everything it possibly could to accommodate the regulated community.  Iowa is required to comply with the Clean Water Act.”  He added that the DNR had ignored the recommendations of the federal law until three organizations – Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association and Iowa Environmental Council – filed a petition for rulemaking in October 2007.

The rule will now be reviewed by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office for its legality and then forwarded to the Environmental Protection Agency for approval.

For more information, contact Neila Seaman at 515-778-5573 or Wally Taylor at 319-350-5807.

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