by Roy C. Hengerson, Legislative Chairman
Citizens concerned about the environment are viewing George W. Bush's early actions with alarm. He has directed that several environmental rules that had been developed during the Clinton administration, usually with considerable public involvement, be put on hold, weakened, or even eliminated. This would be bad news for the nation's rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands and the people that depend on them for drinking water, food, and recreation.
When the Clean Water Act (CWA) was passed by Congress in 1972, the goal was to eliminate discharges of pollution to America's waterways by 1985. That was a bit optimistic. While efforts undertaken by the federal, state, and local governments, along with businesses and individuals, to clean up our waters in the almost 30 years since enactment of the Clean Water Act have produced some beneficial results and returned some rivers and lakes to life, too many waterbodies are still polluted. However, the CWA includes provisions that require polluted waters to be cleaned up.
The Clean Water Act defines impaired waters as those rivers, lakes, and coastal waters which do not meet or are not expected to meet water quality standards. These standards set the levels of pollutants the waterbody cannot exceed if it is to provide for beneficial uses, such as recreation, aquatic life, and drinking water. The CWA requires dischargers to obtain a permit from the federal or state pollution control agency. This permit sets limits on the amounts of pollutants allowed to be discharged. But in many cases the permits have allowed levels of pollutants to continue to be discharged to waters that remain impaired, or the permit requirements were not enforced.
There are provisions in the CWA to address the problem of rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries that do not meet water quality standards even after pollution sources have been controlled through the permitting process. States are to monitor their waters and prepare a list of impaired waters (known as the 303(d) list, from the Section of the Act that requires it). These lists must be completed by April 1, 2002, and every 4 years thereafter. The CWA further requires that for those impaired waterbodies a A total maximum daily load, or TMDL, be calculated that will guide the development of a cleanup plan that will bring the impaired waters into compliance with water quality standards.
State and federal pollution control agencies are only now talking about and wrestling with TMDLs, almost 30 years after these provisions were enacted into law. For years the federal and state governments ignored the requirements of the law. It was only after environmental groups around the country, including the Sierra Club, sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that things began to move. Here in Missouri the TMDL lawsuit was recently resolved with a Settlement Agreement, which specifies actions required of the EPA and the Missouri Natural Resources Department (MDNR) and timelines for accomplishments to be achieved. The current 303(d) list contains 174 waterbodies (streams and lakes) that are impaired. Additional waterbodies may be added to the list due to the Settlement and the new 303(d) list required by April, 2002. MDNR and EPA are under a schedule to complete TMDLs for all these waters by 2009. The Settlement also requires MDNR to complete a comprehensive review of Missouri's water quality standards by 2002 and EPA to promptly review any proposed changes. Establishing consistent water quality standards for the big rivers, the Mississippi and Missouri, in conjunction with other states, is also required by the Settlement.
To help Missouri comply with the Clean Water Act and the Settlement Agreement requirements for an adequate TMDL program, the MDNR set up a TMDL Policy Advisory Committee. This committee meets bi-monthly to advise the state in carrying out its program to clean up our impaired waters. The Sierra Club is one of about 30 parties at the table. Additional citizen input is needed to guide the program. The TMDL process is complicated, but is urgently needed to clean up our still polluted rivers, streams, and lakes. Hopefully with public interest and support the long-delayed goals of the Clean Water Act can be met. However, the threat of the Bush administration weakening the TMDL rules looms as a danger.
Wetlands protection is another Clean Water Act program that is threatened by the Bush administration. Section 404 of the Act requires permits for filling in and destroying wetlands. The Corps of Engineers and the EPA had also been requiring permits for the destruction of wetlands by draining them, but that interpretation of the CWA (known as the Tulloch Rule) was struck down by a court decision. To correct that loophole which allowed many wetlands to be developed without a permit or citizen and agency review, the EPA and the Corps proposed a new rule (known as the Tulloch Rule Fix). This new rule was to go into effect on February 16, 2001, until Bush put a hold on all pending rules.
The claim that this environmental rule, promulgated during the last few months of the Clinton administration, was rushed through at the last moment is bogus. The wetlands protection rule was developed over a two year period with extensive public comment. Shortly Bush and his EPA Administrator, Christine Whitman, will decide if the rule is to be withdrawn. We are pressing for the rule to be retained. If it is eliminated this will again open the door to widespread ditching and draining of wetlands and channelization of streams without any public notice or comment.
It is becoming apparent that the citizens of the United States will need to educate their President about their strong support for and interest in protecting our waters and wetlands. And while the details about TMDLs and Tulloch Rule Fixes may sound complex, the simple message to the President is: We care about our rivers, lakes, and wetlands and we expect you to work to protect them and clean them up, not destroy and pollute them.
For more information: contact Roy C. Hengerson, 2201 Weathered Rock Road, Jefferson City, MO 65101, (573) 635-8066, roy.hengerson@sierraclub.org
EPA TMDL website: www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl
MDNR TMDL website: www.dnr.state.mo.us/deq/wpcp/wpc-tmdl.htm