May 11, 2015 (Download and share the letter here)
Dear Representative:
The undersigned organizations, and their millions of members and supporters, urge you to vote NO on H.R.
1732, the so-called “Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015,” when it is on the House floor this week.
This legislation would halt an ongoing rulemaking to clarify Clean Water Act protections for countless water bodies, including streams that contribute to the drinking water of one in three Americans. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency are close to completing their Clean Water Rule, but H.R.
1732 would stop this important, scientifically rigorous rule before the public has even had the chance to see the finished product. The agencies have engaged in a very transparent and thorough process, and all stakeholders, including the over 800,000 members of the public who commented in support of these protections, should be given the opportunity to review the final rule.
This troubling legislation blows up the current rulemaking and forces the agencies to go back and solicit input from stakeholders they have already consulted, consider factors they have already considered, and then propose a rule (as they have already done). This rulemaking has essentially been in the making for more than a decade and stakeholders from all sides of the issue have asked for a rule to provide certainty and reliability in the permitting process for waters covered by the Clean Water Act. There is nothing to gain by forcing the agencies to repeat years of analysis and consultation concerning this rule. Rather, this bill is simply a last-minute and thinly-veiled attempt at blocking these crucial protections and leaving our nation’s waterways at continued risk of pollution and destruction.
Please oppose this legislation when it is considered by the House of Representatives. Thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
Alliance for the Great Lakes
American Rivers
American Whitewater
Arkansas Wildlife Federation
Audubon Naturalist Society
California River Watch
Citizens Campaign for the Environment (Connecticut/NY)
Clean Oceans Competition (California)
Clean Water Action
Coalition to Protect Blacksburg Waterways (Virginia)
Earthjustice
Earthworks
Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Endangered Habitats League (Southern California) Environment America
Environmental Law and Policy Center
Environmental Working Group
Friends of Accotink Creek (Virginia)
Friends of Dyke Marsh (Virginia)
Friends of the Nanticoke River (Delaware, Maryland)
Friends of the Weskeag (Maine)
Freshwater Future (Great Lakes)
Galveston Bay Foundation
Great Lakes Environmental Law Center
Great Lakes Committee
Izaak Walton League
Gulf Restoration Network
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake
Izaak Walton League of America
Jesus People Against Pollution (Columbia, Mississippi)
Lake Erie Region Conservancy
League of Conservation Voters
Little Falls Watershed Alliance (Maryland & DC)
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (Virginia)
Maryland Conservation Council
Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (Maryland)
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
Montgomery Countryside Alliance
National Audubon Society
Natural Resources Defense Council
Nature Abounds
Neighbors of the Northwest Branch, Anacostia River
New York League of Conservation Voters
New York State Division, Izaak Walton League of America
Ocean River Institute
Ohio Environmental Council
Ohio Wetlands Association
People to Save the Sheyenne (North Dakota)
Piedmont Environmental Council (Virginia)
Potomac Riverkeeper Network
Prairie Rivers Network (of Illinois)
Protecting Our Waters (Philadelphia, PA)
River Network
Rock Creek Conservancy- regional
Shaker Lakes Garden Club (Cleveland/Ohio)
Sierra Club
Southern Environmental Law Center
St. Mary’s River Watershed Association (Maryland)
Surfrider Foundation
Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council (Michigan)
Virginia Conservation Network
WasteWater Education -national
Waterkeepers Chesapeake
West Virginia Highlands Conservancy
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