Action ALERT: Clean Water

ACTION ALERT :YOUR HELP NEEDED NOW

What we are asking you to do:


Ask New York’s House Members to VOTE YES on the Oberstar/Dingell/Leach Clean Water Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill!
Next week, Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Jim Leach (R-IA) and John Dingell (D-MI) will offer an amendment to the EPA/Interior Appropriations Bill when it is on the floor of the House that will prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from continuing to implement the destructive 2003 "No Protection" policy guidance that leaves thousands of waters and wetlands unprotected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This Amendment will restrict EPA from spending money to implement this policy and begin to restore federal anti-pollution safeguards to our Nation’s waters.

Many Congressional leaders recognized the danger of this policy guidance and signed letters seeking repeal of the 2003 policy guidance (Senate letters: Oct. 16, 2003, Aug. 4, 2004, Aug. 5 2004; House letter: Nov. 24, 2003). But now – for the first time since the destructive policy was issued – there will actually be an up-or-down vote in Congress on this most important CWA issue! The vote is anticipated for May 17th. Please help us WIN this critical vote!

History of the 2003 “No Protection” Policy Guidance
· In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States (SWANCC) limited federal authority under the CWA to regulate certain “isolated” wetlands.
· In 2003, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) issued a joint policy guidance that further limited federal application of the CWA to waters across the country. Ostensibly, this guidance was offered to clarify issues of jurisdiction in light of the SWANCC decision and subsequent case law, but it is unnecessary and harmful.
· EPA has estimated that more than 20 million acres of wetlands (20% of the wetlands in the U.S., excluding Alaska) and countless miles of small streams are at risk under this policy.
· A Congressional investigation was requested to assess ACOE wetland permitting after the 2003 policy guidance was issued. Two reports by the U.S. General Accounting Office document ACOE’s lack of uniform or publicly available criteria for determining wetland jurisdiction, and further criticize ACOE’s lack of documentation of rationales when non-jurisdictional determinations are made.
For more information on the SWANCC decision and 2003 Policy Guidance: http://riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/watershed/you_can_do/442

The Clean Water Authority Restoration Act
Although passage of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act (CWARA) is the ultimate solution to reaffirm protections for all waters under the CWA, Congress has a unique opportunity with the Oberstar/Dingell/Leach Clean Water Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill to take a first step towards stopping this destructive 2003 policy that targets so called “isolated” waters.
For more information on CWARA: http://riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/watershed/you_can_do/579
To write to NY Congressional Representatives and ask them to cosponsor CWARA: http://ga1.org/campaign/CWARA_carabell_rapanos_clone

TAKE ACTION: Call you Representative and ask for the staffer handling the Interior-EPA Appropriations Bill. Contact information and Talking Points are provided below.


Contact Information:
Rep. Timothy H. Bishop (D-1) (202) 225-3826 Rep. Steve Israel (D-2) (202) 225-3335
Rep. Peter T. King (R-3) (202) 225-7896 Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-4) (202) 225-5516
Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-5) (202) 225-2601 Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-6) (202) 225-3461
Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-7) (202) 225-3965 Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-8) (202) 225-5635
Rep. Anthony D. Weiner (D-9) (202) 225-6616 Rep. Edolphus Town (D-10) (202) 225-5936
Rep. Major R. Owens (D-11) (202) 225-6231 Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-12) (202) 225-2361
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-13) (202) 225-3371 Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-14) (202) 225-7944
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-15) (202) 225-4365 Rep. José E. Serrano (D-16) (202) 225-4361
Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-17) (202) 225-2464 Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-18) (202) 225-6506
Rep. Sue W. Kelly (R-19) (202) 225-5441 Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-20) (202) 225-5614
Rep. Michael R. McNulty (D-21) (202) 225-5076 Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-22) (202) 225-6335
Rep. John M. McHugh (R-23) (202) 225-4611 Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-24) (202) 225-3665
Rep. James T. Walsh (R-25) (202) 225-3701 Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-26) (202) 225-5265
Rep. Brian Higgins (D-27) (202) 225-3306 Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-28) (202) 225-3615
Rep. John R. “Randy” Kuhl (R-29) (202) 225-3161
If you prefer to send e-mail, find your Representative’s contact information here: http://www.congress.org

Talking Points:
· For three years the EPA/ACOE 2003 policy guidance has led to decisions stripping Clean Water Act protections from thousands of acres of wetlands and miles of streams, ponds and other vital waters all across the country and in New York.

· Although passage of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act is the ultimate solution to reaffirm protections for all waters, Congress has a unique opportunity to put a stop to this destructive policy by voting FOR the Oberstar/Leach/Dingell Clean Water Amendment to the Interior/EPA Appropriations Bill.

· The Oberstar/Dingell/Leach Amendment will restrict EPA from spending money to implement this destructive policy and will begin to restore federal anti-pollution safeguards to our Nation’s waters.

· EPA has estimated that more than 20 million acres of wetlands (20% of the wetlands in the U.S., excluding Alaska) and countless miles of small streams are at risk under this policy. No comprehensive study has assessed the full measure of wetlands and waters that have lost protection in New York. Nonetheless, the Attorney General’s Office found that approximately 66-67% of wetlands at study areas near Lake Ontario and Millbrook lost protection under the policy guidance. New York City Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that 22% of wetlands and 30-34% of streams in the City’s 2,000 square mile drinking water supply watershed have lost federal protection.

· These threatened waters are the lifeblood of our Nation, and protecting them is essential to maintain diverse water systems, filter pollutants and safeguard our drinking water supplies, replenish groundwater aquifers, alleviate flooding, provide recreational opportunities, promote a healthy economy, and provide habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife.

· Please encourage [Congressperson X] to support the Oberstar/Dingell/Leach Clean Water Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill.