Using
a back-door route to deregulation, the Bush
administration has removed clean water protections
for 20 million acres of American wetlands
and tens of thousands of miles of streams,
lakes and ponds, according to documents obtained
through the federal Freedom of Information
Act. [1]
The
documents, used to produce the report "Reckless
Abandon: How the Bush Administration is Exposing
America's Waters to Harm," outline the consequences
of a 2003 federal policy directive that encourages
regulators to routinely avoid enforcing Clean
Water Act protections for American rivers,
lakes, streams and wetlands unless otherwise
directed.
The
report was produced by nonprofit environmental
groups Earthjustice, the National Wildlife
Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC) and the Sierra Club. It can be found
online at www.cwn.org.
"For
the first time in over 30 years of cleaning
up our waters, we're going backwards," said
Paul Schwartz, national policy coordinator
for Clean Water Action. Schwartz noted that
after the Clean Water Act took effect in 1972,
the percentage of the nation's waters deemed
clean enough for fishing and swimming nearly
doubled. But recent state reports now show
those numbers declining, he said.
"The
water is getting dirtier, and the Bush administration
is leading one of the most fundamental attacks
on a law that has arguably done more to protect
the environment and public health than any
other environmental law," Schwartz told BushGreenwatch.
On
January 15, 2003, the Bush administration
published guidelines in the Federal Register
directing field staff at the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to stop issuing protections for
millions of acres of wetlands, streams and
other waters unless they first obtained permission
from national headquarters in Washington,
D.C.
The
directive further stated that no permission
was required to ignore Clean Water Act protections
for these waters and that no records would
be kept of decisions not to invoke the Clean
Water Act.
The
directive severely narrowed the types of waterways
considered protected under the Clean Water
Act to those that were navigable year-round
by commercial vessels, a major departure from
every previous administration's policies since
1972. [2]
At
the same time, the administration announced
it would take steps to codify these guidelines
through federal rulemaking procedures. It
later backed off the rulemaking process in
response to a massive public outcry. But the
guidelines were left in place and have had
the same impact, Schwartz said.
In
response, 219 members of the U.S. House of
Representatives and 33 senators have signed
on to letters to President Bush asking him
to rescind the policy directive and restore
protections to American waters. A bill has
also been introduced in both the House and
Senate that would make clear that all waters
of the U.S. should fall under the protections
of the Clean Water Act. [3]
"The
Bush administration's policy is based on the
fantasy that if you let polluters dump sewage,
oil and other toxic waste into small wetlands
and streams, it won't ultimately wind up in
our lakes, rivers and coastal waters," said
Daniel Rosenberg, an NRDC senior attorney
in the group's August 12 press release.
###
SOURCES:
[1] "Reckless Abandon: How the Bush Administration
is Exposing America's Waters to Harm," CWN,
Aug. 12, 2004. [2] Federal Register, Jan.
15, 2003; EarthJustice, NRDC, NWF, Sierra
Club press release, Aug. 12, 2004. [3] Clean
Water Authority Restoration Act HR 962 and
S 473.
