Ask Senate to oppose S.787, the Clean Water Restoration Act
Overview
Legislation approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee would greatly expand the reach of the federal Clean Water Act. The bill is an amended version of S. 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act, and would redefine the term “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act to include all interstate and intrastate waterbodies. This change would have enormous potential consequences for all segments of the forest products industry throughout the country.
For forest landowners and wood products facilities, the legislation creates uncertainty and could require permits for ditches, culverts, and log ponds, imposing severe time and cost burdens on the facilities.
For paper mill operations, some waste treatment ponds would have to meet end-of-pipe water quality standards since these ponds would be classified as “waters of the United States.” Since these ponds are critical to the water quality treatment process itself, this legislation would eliminate ponds as a treatment tool.
Position
The forest and paper products industry opposes this legislation. Our forest landowners and manufacturing operations require regulatory certainty for water quality compliance. This legislation creates ambiguity about which activities require a permit.
If all water on private land requires a permit, then normal forestry operations could be greatly encumbered with new regulatory burdens with little or no improvement in the environment. Similarly, requiring permits for ditches, culverts, and log ponds imposes costs on manufacturers with little environmental benefit, and commonsense exemptions that exist in current regulations like those for "waste treatment systems" are not recognized by this legislation. Finally, this legislation does not recognize the primary right and responsibility of States to control local land and water use decisions. In this regard, it is inconsistent with provisions in the existing Clean Water Act.
What You Can Do:
Please send a letter today either thanking your Senator for opposing S.787 or urging your Senator to oppose S.787. Both letters are already set up onwww.growthevote.org. Please visit the website and send your letter today!
Step One:
Please enter your name and address. Fields marked with an * are required.To access the fields without using a mouse or the tab key, press alt and the bolded letter to the left of the field.
Note:
Elected officials rarely respond to correspondence from non-constituents.
By completing this form, you can help assure that your elected representative
will give your letter the attention it deserves.
(Ex: Mr., Mrs., or Ms.)
(If your address includes a suite or apartment number, enter it in the box above)
(a valid email address is required for sending your letters electronically)
.gif?n=2897 "Recycle Icon"){kind=icon}
