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In a victory for clean water, the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to protect America’s waterways.
The House voted to stop the U.S. EPA from implementing a 2003 policy that effectively eliminates basic Clean Water Act protections from many streams, wetlands and other waters around the country. We applaud Representatives James Oberstar (D-MN), Jim Leach (R-IA) and John Dingell (D-MI) for championing this successful bipartisan amendment to safeguard the environment and public health.
For three years, EPA’s No Protection policy has left many of America’s waters open to unlimited pollution, filling and destruction. Today, Congress listened to the public and voted to protect drinking water sources and preserve our great waters for generations to come.
EPA’s No Protection policy put thousands of streams and millions of acres of wetlands across the country at risk of unchecked pollution. These streams and wetlands are the lifeblood of America’s waterways. To clean up treasured waters like the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay, these source waters must remain protected by the Clean Water Act.
According to federal agency records, thousands of waters already have lost federal protection as a result of the EPA’s policy, including a 150 mile river basin in New Mexico and 4000 acres of wetlands in Florida.
The passage of the Oberstar- Leach -Dingell clean water amendment will stop the harmful No Protection policy and help safeguard all of America’s waters.
