Stand Up for Great Blue Herons and Clean Water

For fifty years, the Clean Water Act has protected the rivers, streams, wetlands, and wildlife habitat we depend on from pollution and destruction. The Biden administration recently finalized the Clean Water Restoration Rule, which restores longstanding federal clean water protections for the small streams and wetlands at the upper reaches of our watersheds and thereby protecting downstream water quality.

However, there are efforts in Congress to undo this critical rule using a tool called the Congressional Review Act. Now is not the time to remove Clean Water Act protections for the wetlands and streams that communities and wildlife like the great blue heron rely on.

Without federal protections, our nation’s wetlands and streams would be open to pollution and destruction, undoing fifty years of progress to protect our waters. Tell your Senator to vote NO on removing clean water protections!

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I urge you to oppose the Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval of the Revised Definition of the “Waters of the United States” rule. This resolution would invalidate the recently finalized “Waters of the United States” rule, which restores long-standing protections for important wetlands and streams across the country. In virtually every respect, the rule is a codification of the approach that the EPA and the Army Corps have used for most of the past 15 years to identify waters that qualify as “waters of the United States.”

This harmful resolution targets a rule that reaffirms federal Clean Water Act protections for tributaries, wetlands, streams, and other waters that supply clean drinking water for millions of Americans. These small streams and wetlands also provide clean water for farmers, keep the economy afloat, protect communities from floods, provide critical wildlife habitat, and enhance outdoor recreation opportunities. Importantly, this rule recognizes that pollution upstream in our tributaries and headwaters can have downstream impacts, and thus we must protect the entire system to safeguard downstream communities, economies, and the environment.

Using the Congressional Review Act to attack this rule would prevent future administrations from issuing rules that are “substantially the same.” Both protections and exemptions codified in this rule, including those for the agriculture industry, could be called into question in future rules to define “waters of the United States.” This dangerous attempt to undermine the Clean Water Act itself will only create uncertainty and confusion for the many stakeholders, people, and communities who rely on clean water for drinking water, flood control, or way of life.

I urge you to stand up for clean water and oppose this CRA. Without strong, clear federal protections, our nation’s wetlands and streams would be open to pollution and destruction, undoing fifty years of progress to protect our waters and the people, communities, and wildlife that rely on them.

Sincerely,
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