Chicago, IL – Environment Illinois praised the Senate
Environment and Public Works committee today for passing the Clean Water
Restoration Act (S. 787), a vital protection for America’s surface waters.
“Our most cherished iconic waterways, Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, can only be as healthy as the streams
and wetlands that feed and clean them,” said Max Muller, program director at
Environment Illinois. “Thanks to Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer and Senators
Merkley, Cardin, and Lautenberg for their leadership. While the bill does
includes some compromise, overall, it’s great step forward for the health of America’s
waters.”
SB 787 would help protect small bodies of water that serve
complex and vital functions to our ecosystem. Most Americans assume that the
Clean Water Act protects all of the nation’s waters, but recent court decisions
have created confusion about which waters it protects, and subsequent policies
issued by the Bush administration further muddled the question.
The loss of Clean Water Act protections for streams and
wetlands would harm downstream waterways. These smaller waterways supply water,
filter out pollution, trap sediment, control floods, and provide some of Illinois’s most diverse
habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife.
For example, wetlands initially protected under the original
1972 Clean Water Act have the capacity to contain 1.5 million gallons of
floodwater--an invaluable protection for local communities and which could save
the government millions in disaster recovery funds.
U.S. EPA estimates that over half of Illinois streams are headwater or seasonal, the
types of streams most in danger. Over 60% of Illinois wetlands, totaling over 150,000
acres, may also lose protection.
At least 823 polluting facilities located on
at-risk streams have their pollution limited by Clean Water Act permits—permits
which may no longer be required. EPA data indicate that over 1.6 million
Illinoisans receive drinking water from supplies fed at least in part by
these streams.
The committee accepted one amendment, offered by Senators Baucus
(D-MT) and Klobuchar (D-MN), which maintained exemptions for prior-converted
cropland and waste ponds, but rejected all other weakening amendments.
“The Clean Water Restoration Act will preserve the beauty
and integrity of Illinois’s waters, from Lake
Michigan to the Mississippi,”
said Muller. “We’ve talked to citizens across the state who overwhelmingly
support protecting our waters; it’s time for the Senate to pass this important
legislation.”
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