Help block attempts to weaken the Clean Water Act. PUT A STOP TO HR 2018!
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I just recently returned from a mini vacation to Yellowstone National Park. Though I was on vacation, clean water and the Clean Water Act were never far from my mind. How could they be considering I spent much of my time admiring the beauty and wonder of the Yellowstone River, knowing fully well that mere miles downstream a major corporation was busy sweeping under the rug the severity of a major oil spill on one of America’s great rivers.
Returning today was both a blessing and a curse. Though I’d love to still be out playing in the wilderness, I was happy and proud to return to an inbox full of comments, suggestions and organizing techniques against what is truly one of the most dangerous attacks on the Clean Water Act that we have ever seen. I encourage all of you to take the time to read Bobby Kennedy Jr’s latest Huffington Post blog titled, “An Assault on Clean Water and Democracy” to better understand what we are up against, and what we stand to lose. I then encourage you to take the time (but do it quickly) to write your representative telling them that a vote in favor of this Dirty Water Act is truly a vote in favor of threatening future generations with poorer water quality. You can see the Action Alert I put out recently to do that, or you can see the most recent one from the Waterkeeper Alliance below.
The opening statement of EPA’s “Technical Assessment H.R. 2018” says it bluntly: “The bill would overturn almost 40 years of federal legislation by preventing EPA from protecting public health and water quality.” Furthermore, EPA’s assessment says:
- “The bill would prevent EPA from providing its views on whether a proposed project that pollutes or even destroys lakes, streams, or wetlands would violate Clean Water Act standards.”
- “The bill would remove EPA’s existing state coordination role and eliminate the careful Federal/State balance established in the current Clean Water Act.”
- “The bill would prevent EPA from protecting communities from unacceptable adverse impacts to their water supplies and the environment caused by Federal permits.”
- “The bill would substantively eliminate the opportunity for EPA, the federal government’s expert on water quality, to comment on Federal permits impacting water quality and public health.
Thanks for your support!
America’s Waterways Need Your Help!
The Clean Water Act is one of our nation’s most important and fundamental laws, but it may soon be gutted through HR 2018, also known as the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act. HR 2018 would give the states, rather than the EPA, the ultimate decision-making authority over our nation’s water quality standards, letting polluter-friendly states undermine our national clean water standards.
This is devastating news for our nation’s waterways. At a time when regulation has fallen by the wayside, to strip the EPA of certain basic enforcement powers would be a crushing blow. HR 2018 displaces federal responsibilities onto states, making it difficult to enforce and maintain standards.
HR 2018 is being fast-tracked through the federal House of Representatives. Please act today, and contact your congressperson to urge them to oppose HR 2018.
Click Here To Write Your U.S. Congressional Representatives!
Forward this to your friends and family, and ask them to stand with the people who value clean water. Ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers to take action too!
We can’t afford to wait and see if the Clean Water Act remains a federal issue. We must work together to ensure that the EPA maintains control over clean water regulation.
