Angelica, NY – A new definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) may leave critical wetlands and public water sources without EPA protection. Farmers, ranchers, mining companies and developers are hailing the move as a long-overdue clarification of Federal oversight, but the issue is complex and affects different groups and individuals in myriad ways.
As a citizens of the United States, you have until April 15th to make your voice heard on this critical issue. Go to www.regulations.gov, under “What’s Trending” click on “Revised Definition of Waters of the United States” or search docket EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0149, look for “Comment Now” button.
Here is CCACs comment:
“Water does not respect political boundaries.
“Leaving the regulation of critical features like non-adjacent wetlands, headwaters and small streams which feed larger waters to the states where they are located is contrary to the stated purpose of the Clean Water Act.
“A polluter has only to go far enough upstream and he can dump whatever he wants.
“The agencies propose to return to the states and tribes control and management of ecologically important waters currently under Federal protection, assuming that state regulation will substitute for Federal protection. The conclusion of the agencies’ Economic Analysis that 29 states “may” or are “likely to’’ bolster their wetlands dredge and fill requirements, for example, in order to close the gap between the current 2015 definition and the proposed definition, is specious and based partly on outdated political realities.
“Of particular concern is the fact that around half the states as of 2013 have statutes on the books barring regulation broader than that provided under the CWA. (Environmental Law Institute, 2013).
“Only Federal protection of critical water features will serve to carry out the CWA’s purpose. When economic damage is done, the costs are shared nationally, and not borne only by the states affected. Giving more oversight to the states will likely result in many states doing less, not more, create a policy vacuum and constitute another cost-shift from the Federal to the state level.
“The proposed new rule does not deny the science of wetlands’ complex hydrological behavior, or of the vast peer-reviewed literature which informed the 2015 rule - it just ignores it.
“Instead, it relies on a dictionary definition of “water” and the exclusion of certain tributaries, headwaters and wetlands not located in floodplains, including some that do not exhibit typical wetland characteristics and those not hydrologically connected to a jurisdictional water.
“However, more than 50 years of research has “unequivocally demonstrated that the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of traditionally navigable waters fundamentally depends on ephemeral, intermittent and perennial headwater streams, as well as the myriad associated lakes, wetlands, and off-channel habitats.” (Consortium of Aquatic Science Societies, 2018, used by permission, emphasis ours).
“The Science Advisory Board found in 2014 that the scientific literature supports a WOTUS definition that reflects how numerous functions of non-floodplain wetlands sustain the physical, chemical, and/or biological integrity of downstream waters, while cautioning that the degree of connectivity can vary widely and should be accounted for in the definition by a connectivity gradient.*
“Wetlands are not always wet, nor is the connection to a jurisdictional water always obvious, especially to an untrained, non-professional observer.
“Here at home in Western New York, our great aquatic treasure, the Genesee River, is slowly coming back from a long period of neglect and abuse thanks in great measure to Federal programs that enabled local pollution remediation and enforcement. New threats abound however, in the form of radioactive leachates from landfills, erosion flows, agricultural runoff, and invasive species along its northern course.
“The headwaters of the Genesee are in another state, where changing political and environmental policies could threaten our river in ways over which we have no control. Therefore, we want Federal protection for the little rivulets, small streams, tributaries and wetlands, adjacent or not, that together constitute the headwaters of the Genesee to preserve its ecological value. We don’t need to enumerate the huge economic benefits that preservation of the integrity and beauty of this river bestow on the people of our county.
“We all live downstream. We urge the agencies to withdraw the proposed rule, go back to the drawing board, inform their work more with science and less with case law, and give us a clarification of the Rule that reflects the common ownership of the Waters of the United States by all the people, for their mutual protection and enjoyment.”
Sincerely,
Karen Ash, Chair
Concerned Citizens of Allegany County
PO Box 425
Angelica NY 14709
