For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
Today the Trump Administration proposed to 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.
“Trump has unveiled his attack on clean water today with the rollback of the Water of the United States rule. This rollback will threaten our environment and drinking water. It will make it easier for developers, miners, and big business to ruin our rivers and streams. We are also concerned that this weakening will lead to discharging of fracking waste in the Delaware. 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 rollback on WOTUS is attack on environment that will also impact our public health and safety. McCabe has publicly opposed what Trump is doing but hasn’t lifted a finger to get rid of the rollbacks from the Christie Administration. As they oppose Trump, they should strengthen New Jersey’s water protections.”
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.
“It’s good that DEP oppose to Trump’s rollback to WOTUS rule. But New Jersey needs to do more to protect our clean water. DEP still have to reverse rollbacks from the Christie Administration on Wetland rules, Flood Hazard rules, Water Quality Planning, and set new standards for drinking water,” said Tittel. “Christie adopted rules that are weaker than the WOTUS that are still in effect. New Jersey must tighten these rules on headwater areas and the connectivity on streams.”
The EPA is working on a separate track to repeal the 2015 rule. It proposed to do so in 2017 and refined the proposal this year, but still has not made the repeal final.
“Trump’s weakened 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.,” 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. The best thing to do to stand up to Trump is for New Jersey to protect its own water protection.”