Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: Support the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act

Dear Representative ,

I strongly urge you to cosponsor and actively support the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2003, H.R.962. This important legislation will not only prevent any further weakening of the Clean Water Act, but will provide much needed protections for all of America’s waterways.

Three decades ago, our government promised clean and safe rivers, lakes, and coastal waters for our communities. Despite some important successes, over 40% of our nation’s waters remain polluted. The present and long term health, survival, and security of our nation requires that we be moving forward on cleaning up our waterways, not moving backward.

In January, 2001, the Supreme Court created a legal loophole that states that "isolated intrastate non-navigable waters" can no longer be protected based solely on their use by migratory birds as habitat. The Bush Administration has broadly misinterpreted that decision to mean that these waterways are no longer protected, leaving as much as a third of our nation’s wetlands vulnerable both to physical destruction and to discharges of pollutants. And earlier this year, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers moved forward with their efforts to reduce the scope of the waters protected under the Clean Water Act. The agencies issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, as well as a guidance document that was effective immediately, which would remove protections for isolated wetlands, creeks, streams and ponds. Now the Administration is still proceeding with the rulemaking, despite an outpouring of over 130,000 public comments in opposition to the change.

We support the demand of indigenous organizations in Peru that oil and gas development be halted and permanently removed within the territories of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.

The Clean Water Authority Restoration Act will reinstate full protections for isolated wetlands that provide much needed habitat for birds and wildlife, as well as flood control and filtering pollutants from our waters--making them safer for birds, wildlife and most importantly, people. When protections for our waters are removed, we are guaranteed more pollution, less birds and wildlife, and greater human health and safety risks. Please reverse this trend by supporting the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act.