Congressional committee votes to repeal clean water protections

On Tuesday, February 28th,  a Congressional committee voted to repeal the  EPA rule that restores Clean Water Act protections for thousands of wetlands and streams. The move comes even as northeast Ohio residents are seeking to hold polluters accountable for the toxic train disaster in East Palestine.

For two decades, lobbyists for agribusiness, oil and gas companies and developers have sought to chip away at Clean Water Act protections in Congress and the courts. Environment America has been there to defend those protections at every turn – winning the 2015 Clean Water Rule, challenging the Trump administration’s Dirty Water Rule, and supporting the current EPA rule even as a case on the issue (Sackett v. EPA)  is pending before the Supreme Court.

Wetlands are the kidneys of our ecosystem – filtering out pollution and protecting our communities from flooding. And seasonal streams feed our major rivers and lakes, and help provide drinking water to as many as 117 million Americans.  Stripping protections for these vital waterways makes no sense.

Polluters’ allies are expected to bring this reckless rollback to the House floor next week. We will fight it every step of the way.