From Kentuckians for the Commonwealth:
Several
members of the U.S. Senate – including Kentucky senators McConnell and
Paul – are pushing amendments that would keep the Environmental
Protection Agency from doing its job, while also doing serious damage to
the Clean Water Act.
They are pushing three amendments to the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (S. 601), legislation directed at restoring ecosystems and reducing erosion. Those amendments are:
Amendment #850
would remove EPA’s critical yet scarcely used authority to stop Section
404 permits for harmful projects that discharge dredge and fill
materials into rivers, lakes and streams such as valley fills associated
with mountaintop removal mining. This amendment also removes EPA’s
authority to ensure states effectively implement state water quality
standards and improve standards without states agreeing to the changes.
This amendment would also prevent EPA from objecting to state-approved
NPDES water pollution permits that do not meet the minimum standards of
the law.
Amendment #846 would
prohibit EPA from using its Clean Water Act authority to veto a dredge
and fill permit that has a significantly adverse effect on drinking
water, fisheries, wildlife or recreational areas, if EPA acts after the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues a permit, as was the case recently
with the Spruce mine in West Virginia. Currently, under the Clean Water
Act, the EPA has this clear authority (recently upheld by a federal
court) to veto permits for dredge and fill activities such as valley
fills associated wi
Amendment #846,
sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, would change the definition of waters that
are under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act by eliminating
protections for intermittent and ephemeral streams. Again, this is a
direct attempt to stop EPA's efforts to stop (or at least limit) the
dumping of toxic mining wastes into Kentucky headwater streams.
The
Water Resources Development Act of 2013 is a big bill that deals with
all kinds of water projects across the U.S. This bill has so many
projects that nearly every Senator wants to see addressed for their
state that the bill appears to have overwhelming support. So if these
bad amendments get attached it is likely the bill will still pass.
Take Action
We
need to stop these amendments – either by having Senate leadership limit
the number of amendments on the bill through a cloture motion, or by
voting them down.
Call Senate President Harry Reid at 202-224-3542 with this message:
Oppose
all amendments to the Water Resources Development Act intended to
weaken the Clean Water Act and its enforcement by the EPA, including
Amendment numbers 801, 846 and 850.
Please call starting as early as you can on Tuesday morning.
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