Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

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Friday 13 September 2019
Trump administration

drops Obama-era

water protection rule

Continued from Front as rivers and lakes. But dis-
putes have long persisted
Scrapping it “puts an end over what other waters
to an egregious power are subject to regulation —
grab, eliminates an ongo- particularly wetlands that
ing patchwork of clean don’t have a direct con-
water regulations and re- nection to those larger wa-
stores a longstanding and ters, plus small headwater
familiar regulatory frame- streams and channels that
work,” Environmental Pro- flow only during and after
tection Agency chief An- rainfall.
drew Wheeler said at a Environmentalists contend
news conference in Wash- many of those smaller,
ington, D.C. seemingly isolated waters
Wheeler and R.D. James, are tributaries of the larger
assistant secretary of the waterways and can have
Army for civil works, signed a significant effect on their
a document overturning quality.
the rule and temporarily re- Denying them federal pro-
storing an earlier regulatory tection would leave mil-
system that emerged after lions of Americans with less In this June 7, 2018, file photo, a puddle blocks a path that leads into the Panther Island Mitigation
a 2006 ruling from a sharply safe drinking water and al- Bank near Naples, Fla. Associated Press
divided Supreme Court. low damage of wetlands America. “The EPA is abdi- reau Federation, said the blocking its implementa-
The agencies plan to adopt that prevent flooding, fil-
a new rule by the end of ter pollutants and provide cating its mission to protect 2015 rule had generated tion in some.
our environment and our a greater sense of urgen-
It was effective in 22 states,
the year that is expected habitat for a multitude of
to define protected water- fish, waterfowl and other health.” cy among its membership Washington, D.C., and U.S.
Wheeler said regulators than any other issue.
territories before Thursday’s
ways more narrowly than wildlife, they said.
the Obama policy. “By repealing the Clean had gone far beyond the “When you take the private action.
intent of Congress under property rights from a man Betsy Southerland, who
The Clean Water Act re- Water Rule, this administra-
quires landowners to ob- tion is opening our iconic the 1972 clean water law. that’s worked all his life ... was director of science
“The 2015 rule meant that to grow the food and fiber and technology in EPA’s
tain federal permits before waterways to a flood of
developing or polluting pollution,” said Bart John- more businesses and land- for all of us to sit down and Office of Water during the
administration,
owners across the U.S. enjoy three times a day, Obama
navigable waterways such sen-Harris of Environment
would need to obtain a it’s something he just can’t said revoking its policy
federal permit to exercise stand,” Duvall said. would create further regu-
control over their own prop- But Laura DeYoung, who latory confusion.
erty, a process that can runs a small sheep farm “This repeal is a victory for
cost tens of thousands of near Peninsula, Ohio, said land developers, oil and
dollars and take months or she favored federal over- gas drillers and miners who
even years to complete,” sight to protect Lake Erie, will exploit that ambigu-
he said. where agricultural phos- ity to dredge and fill small
“It also put more local land- phorus runoff is blamed for streams and wetlands that
use decisions in the hands large algae blooms. were protected from de-
of unelected bureaucrats. “Nothing in the Obama struction by the 2015 rule
Many Americans balked at regulations that came out because of their critical
this idea, and rightfully so.” prevented me from farm- impact on national water
President Donald Trump ing the way I was previously quality,” Southerland said.
had ordered the EPA and farming,” she said. Sen. John Barrasso, a Wy-
Army Corps to develop a The question of which wa- oming Republican and
replacement policy that ters are covered under the chairman of the Senate
has a more restrictive defi- Clean Water Act has in- Committee on Environ-
nition of protected wet- spired decades of lawsuits ment and Public Works,
lands and streams. and numerous bills in Con- applauded the Trump ad-
The Natural Resources De- gress. ministration move, saying
fense Council said the ad- The Supreme Court in 2006 the Obama rule “would
ministration’s action would produced three differ- have put backyard ponds,
be challenged in court. ing opinions, leading the puddles and prairie pot-
“The Clean Water Rule rep- Obama administration to holes under Washington’s
resented solid science and craft its rule. It provided fed- control.”
smart public policy,” the eral oversight to upstream Democratic Rep. Dan
group said in a statement. tributaries and headwa- Kildee of Michigan, where
“Where it has been en- ters, including wetlands, two disputes over federal
forced, it has protected ponds, lakes and streams wetlands permits led to the
important waterways and that can affect the quality 2006 Supreme Court case,
wetlands, providing cer- of navigable waters. said Trump “has decided to
tainty to all stakeholders.” The regulation drew quick weaken protections for our
Zippy Duvall, president of legal challenges from 31 water and reward corpo-
the American Farm Bu- states and court rulings rate polluters.”q