Fact
Sheet - Clean Water Restoration Act
October 17, 2007
October 18th, 2007 marks the 35th anniversary
of Congress’s enactment of the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972.
Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold introduced the
Clean Water Restoration Act, a bill to restore the original
protections of our nation’s rivers, streams and wetlands provided
by the CWA. The bill is cosponsored by 19 senators and bipartisan
companion legislation has been introduced by Rep. James Oberstar
(D-MN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee. Since the introduction of the bills, special interest
groups long opposed to the CWA have tried to mischaracterize
the intent of Senator Feingold’s bill. This fact sheet explains
what the Clean Water Restoration Act actually does and does
not do.
Background:
The CWA was enacted in 1972 to clean up
and protect our nation’s waters, which are so important to
our environment and economy. However, two controversial, closely
decided U.S. Supreme Court cases, Solid Waste Agency of Northern
Cook County v. Army Corps of Engineers in 2001 and Rapanos
v. United States in 2006, greatly reduced the scope of the
CWA, undermining decades of clean water protections and disregarding
the original intent of Congress.
The protection of our nation’s waters is too important to
leave up to court interpretations. By passing the Clean Water
Restoration Act, Congress’s original intent to protect all
our nation’s waters will be reaffirmed.
The Clean Water Restoration
Act:
- Restores protection for all waters protected by the CWA
prior to the 2001 and 2006 U.S. Supreme Court cases.
- Clarifies that the CWA is principally intended to protect
the nation’s waters from pollution rather than just to sustain
the navigability of waterways.
- Clearly defines what “waters of the United States” means
by adopting the Environmental Protection Agency’s long-standing
definition.
The Clean Water Restoration Act does NOT:
- Change the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps
of Engineers’ existing regulations. In fact, the bill defines
the waters subject to the federal government’s jurisdiction
based on the agencies’ regulations that have been in place
since the 1970s.
- Change the regulation of activities. The bill only addresses
the federal government’s jurisdiction over types of waters.
The current exemptions related to farming, forestry, and infrastructure
maintenance are not affected.
- Preempt state and local authority under the CWA.
- Prohibit development or other activities that discharge
pollutants into waters. Since 1972, complying with the CWA
has involved evaluating proposed activities and minimizing
impacts by ensuring certain pollution standards or environmental
criteria are met.
- Change the permitting process that has been in place for
decades.
Without the Clean Water Restoration Act, the following waters
will go unprotected (based on EPA estimates):
- Up to 59 percent of the total length of U.S. streams (excluding
Alaska).
- Surface waters that provide drinking water to an estimated
110 million people.
- At least 20 million acres of “isolated” wetlands in the
lower 48 states critical for water quality improvement, flood
storage, migratory bird habitats, and fish and shellfish nursery
grounds.
- Larger lakes, rivers, and coastal waters that will receive
pollution from upstream resources.
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