Washington, D.C. -- EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will announce today that the Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its new Waters of the US rule. This “Dirty Water Rule” will roll back Clean Water Act protections for more than half of wetlands throughout the country and millions of stream miles, resulting in the fewest protections for our water since the 1980s. As has become routine, Administrator Wheeler will make this announcement at a gathering an industry lobby group that stands to benefit from this rollback - this time it's the National Association of Home Builders.
Clean Water Action President and CEO, Bob Wendelgass, released the following response:
“Donald Trump and Andrew Wheeler are stripping protections from streams and wetlands to pad the profits of fossil fuel companies, developers, and other corporate polluters.
The Dirty Water Rule is the centerpiece in the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle the Clean Water Act, reversing decades of progress for our water. It ignores science, it tosses aside public opinion, and is driven by the wishlist of special interests who have tried to weaken safeguards for clean water for nearly 50 years. The only beneficiaries of the Dirty Water Rule are the companies that can now pave over streams or fill in-wetlands without accountability.
It’s telling that the Trump administration is leaning on misleading and mostly debunked industry talking points in support of this dangerous proposal. It’s because they have nothing else -- there is no justification for this reckless scheme. Families and communities will face real impacts. Small streams feed drinking water sources for millions. Wetlands filter pollution and absorb floodwaters. Climate change will only worsen these impacts. We need to do more, not less to protect our water.”
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Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. We will protect clean water in the face of attacks from a polluter friendly Administration. www.cleanwateraction.org
