04-05-2004, 06:45 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Barring an extension, a public comment period has ended and the Bush administration is moving ahead with a proposal to remove Clean Water Act (CWA) protection from 20 million acres of wetlands and half of the streams in the United States, not including Alaska.
Opponents say stripping away CWA protection for these resources would encourage unregulated wetlands destruction and water pollution on a large scale.
They also say water quality in larger rivers and estuaries downstream would worsen due to the increased flows of toxic waste, nutrients, sediment and flood waters. The resulting loss and destruction of habitat for migratory waterfowl, fish, shellfish, amphibians and other wildlife could be enormous, posing consequences for the economy as well as the environment.
The Bush administration claims that its narrowing definition of "protected waters" under the CWA is necessitated by a 2001 Supreme Court decision. In Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the court ruled that the Corps couldn't protect intrastate, isolated, non-navigable ponds solely based on their use by migratory birds.
In response, citizen groups countered that the decision did not invalidate exiting CWA rules.
To achieve that goal, it prohibits discharge of pollutants (without a permit) into navigable waters, defined in the act as "waters of the United States." The law historically has been understood to protect traditionally navigable waters, tributaries of navigable waters, wetlands adjacent to these waters, and other wetlands, streams and ponds that, if destroyed or degraded, could negatively impact interstate commerce.
But following the 2001 ruling, developers and industry intensified their efforts to narrow the definition of "waters of the United States." And even though that decision dealt specifically with wetlands, much more than wetlands are at risk.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that as much as 20 percent of the nation's wetlands in the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii -- 20 million acres -- could fall under the category of "isolated," and thus lose protection. It also has estimated that as much as 50 percent of the streams in the lower 48 states and Hawaii run intermittently
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Opponents say stripping away CWA protection for these resources would encourage unregulated wetlands destruction and water pollution on a large scale.
They also say water quality in larger rivers and estuaries downstream would worsen due to the increased flows of toxic waste, nutrients, sediment and flood waters. The resulting loss and destruction of habitat for migratory waterfowl, fish, shellfish, amphibians and other wildlife could be enormous, posing consequences for the economy as well as the environment.
The Bush administration claims that its narrowing definition of "protected waters" under the CWA is necessitated by a 2001 Supreme Court decision. In Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the court ruled that the Corps couldn't protect intrastate, isolated, non-navigable ponds solely based on their use by migratory birds.
In response, citizen groups countered that the decision did not invalidate exiting CWA rules.
To achieve that goal, it prohibits discharge of pollutants (without a permit) into navigable waters, defined in the act as "waters of the United States." The law historically has been understood to protect traditionally navigable waters, tributaries of navigable waters, wetlands adjacent to these waters, and other wetlands, streams and ponds that, if destroyed or degraded, could negatively impact interstate commerce.
But following the 2001 ruling, developers and industry intensified their efforts to narrow the definition of "waters of the United States." And even though that decision dealt specifically with wetlands, much more than wetlands are at risk.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that as much as 20 percent of the nation's wetlands in the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii -- 20 million acres -- could fall under the category of "isolated," and thus lose protection. It also has estimated that as much as 50 percent of the streams in the lower 48 states and Hawaii run intermittently
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