For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
The Trump administration is expected to put forth a proposal on Tuesday that would significantly weaken a major Obama-Era Rule Protecting Drinking Water For 117 million people. The Obama-era Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule was designed to limit pollution in most of the nation's large bodies of water in an effort to protect drinking water from contamination. Trump’s new rule is more industry-friendly and would exclude from regulation streams and tributaries that do not run year round. It would also exclude wetlands that are not directly connected to larger bodies of water.
“President Trump is coming out with a dirty water rule tomorrow. Trump’s rollback of the Water of the United States Rule will make it easier for developers, miners, and big business to pollute our rivers and streams. Trump’s rollback is his war on the environment and attack on clean water. These are called WOTUS because they belong to all of US. They do not belong to developers, agribusiness, or polluters. They belong to the people of this country. The rule is especially important for New Jersey because is protects our headwaters and connectivity to streams. We will also see more flooding, more filling in wetlands, and pollution from other states that will impact New Jersey,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The WOTUS is an important environmental rule and retracting them is shameful sellout of clean water. That is why is critical for Murphy Administration to step up against Trump and protect our clean water.”
The Obama rule centers on the concept that waterways with a “significant nexus” to navigable ones would be regulated. That was based on a plurality opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in the 2006 Rapanos v. United States case, which concluded with a messy 4-1-4 vote. But Scalia’s opinion was that only “relatively permanent” waterways should be covered, which would cover less area than Kennedy’s definition.’
“The clean water rule provides important protections for wetlands that filter pollution, habitats for fish and wildlife, and floodwater absorption. It closes loopholes and ends different interpretations on how to protect clean water under the Clean Water Act. Changing delineation of the rules on isolated wetlands and intermittent streams will mean more water pollution in New Jersey and more flooding instate and from joining states. More flooding and pollution in New York could and create downstream flooding that would impact the Passaic River and our reservoirs. This results in pollution including storm water runoff and sewage coming into our rivers and reservoirs such as the Hackensack and Ramapo Rivers and Wanaque and Oradell reservoirs and water supply intakes in Pompton,” said Jeff Tittel.
Many environmental groups, including the Sierra Club sued the Trump’s new water rule. In August, a judge in South Carolina issued a nationwide injunction against the “Suspension Rule,” which delayed the effective date of the 2015 Waters of the United States rule. Now, a judge in Oregon has gone even further. Judge John Coughenour has vacated the rule.
“The courts have ruled against the delay of WOTUS which gives us a good change to get them overturned because it violates the Clean Water Act. New Jersey must keep fighting to protect our clean water because the Trump Administration will continue and try to rollback federal protections. Trump’s weaken water rule will leave vital parts of our watershed like wetlands and the drinking water sources for more than 117 million Americans at risk of pollution and more flooding. Every citizen deserves clean water and that’s why we need to fight back against the Trump Administration weakening this rule. We need the Murphy Administration to step up and protect our wetlands and our drinking water by replacing weakened rules and rollbacks from under Christie,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We need protections to make sure that the polluters follow the law and clean up their act. This will help not only protect the environment, but public health as well. We need to ensure that our streams, wetlands, and waterways are protected from pollution.”