Congressman Sandy Levin : Legislation Introduced to Reaffirm Clean Water Act Protections
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Legislation Introduced to Reaffirm Clean Water Act Protections
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Since Congress approved the Clean Water Act 30 years ago, the nation has made considerable progress in cleaning up our nation’s rivers, lakes and streams, but there is still much to be done. We should be strengthening the Clean Water Act’s, not weakening them.

However, in 2001, a closely divided Supreme Court ruled that certain small, hydrologically-isolated wetlands should be removed from federal oversight and raised the worrisome possibility of new efforts to remove federal protection from waterways now explicitly covered by the Clean Water Act. In the wake of the Court’s 2001 ruling, the Bush Administration has raised questions about the extent of the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction over other waters, including smaller streams, tributaries and adjacent wetlands.

In early 2006, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two new Michigan cases that will help determine which wetlands are subject to protection under the Clean Water Act. These court cases were brought by developers who want to build on environmentally fragile lands. The rulings in these cases could have broad impacts on the health of smaller, non-navigable rivers and streams in Michigan and other states.

Congress needs to step in and clarify, once and for all, exactly which waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act. Rep. Levin has cosponsored legislation [H.R. 1356, the “Clean Water Authority Restoration Act”] that would clarify that the Clean Water Act applies to all waters of the United States, including streams, tributaries and wetlands, irrespective of whether or not these are navigable bodies of water. This legislation has more than 140 House cosponsors.