Advancing Water Protections
Advancing and defending robust Clean Water Act protections and equitable access to secure clean water for all
The rollback of protections for our waters has exacerbated the vulnerabilities faced by underserved communities across the country, particularly in communities of color, low-income communities, Tribal communities, rural areas, and other areas with environmental justice concerns which are disproportionately affected by pollution. Decision-makers must urgently restore and reinforce the Clean Water Act and protect the waters our nation relies on. Furthermore, they must take additional action, like increasing funding for our federal and state agencies, and strengthening programs to tackle the water challenges and crises that prevent every community from having access to clean water, especially in the face of a worsening climate crisis.
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Strengthen, defend, and protect the Clean Water Act
Strengthen Clean Water Act protections for waters left vulnerable from the Sackett v. EPA decision: Pass legislation to restore the Clean Water Act protections for wetlands and streams for all communities. This legislative move will solidify the scientific and legal framework needed to preserve these essential natural resources, protecting public health, drinking water supplies, promoting resiliency against floods and droughts, safeguarding cultural and religious traditions, and ensuring that underserved communities are prioritized in conservation efforts and benefit from enhanced natural defenses against environmental hazards.
Center environmental justice in water policy: The federal government, including Congress, should recognize the right of every person to access clean, safe water. This should be achieved by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately adverse human health or environmental effects of all programs, policies, practices, and activities related to water policy on communities of color, low-income communities, and Tribal and Indigenous communities.
Oppose legislation weakening water protections: Our clean water safeguards are consistently under attack in the U.S. Congress, targeted by legislative efforts that undermine federal water quality standards, exacerbate environmental injustices, and hinder access to clean and safe water, crucial for the health and well-being of all communities. Congress should oppose any legislation that reduces protections and increases pollution burdens our communities, especially those that have been disproportionately impacted.
Provide robust funding, resources, and programs for states and tribal governments to protect water resources within their boundaries and jurisdiction. Support state and tribal efforts to implement progressive policy and funding levels for programs that protect vulnerable waters within their boundaries and jurisdiction. Similarly, provide adequate funding for existing water quality and monitoring programs and enforcement.
Ensure robust monitoring and enforcement of clean water safeguards. Deter potential polluters and ensure rigorous compliance with the law by strengthening EPA’s monitoring capacity and enforcing all Clean Water Act penalties. Given that environmental justice communities are disproportionately impacted by water pollution, following through with stricter fines and enforcement will help address this historical injustice and improve public health for all communities. Restitution from violators should be directed towards Clean Water Act programs and infrastructure investments.
Essential protection of the EPA’s 2023 Clean Water Act Section 401 Rule: Protecting Section 401 is crucial for preserving the authority granted to states, territories, and Tribes to protect vital water resources. Maintaining this rule helps ensure that federally licensed projects, like dangerous pipelines, do not jeopardize our water resources and strikes a balance between economic growth and sustainable water resource management.
Ensure stringent wastewater regulations for polluting industries: Push EPA to develop, implement, and enforce new, revised, and existing guidelines for discharges from industrial sources, such as coal-fired power plants, pre-production plastic pellets (nurdles), manufacturers and users of toxic chemicals such as PFAS, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), slaughterhouses, and others.
Ensure robust oversight of Clean Water Act permitting: Ensure the Clean Water Act’s permitting programs are adequately protecting lakes, wetlands, streams, and other waters from industrial dischargers and that dischargers are held responsible for their pollution. This will help alleviate the burdens of the impacts of pollution and increased flooding on downstream communities. Push to strengthen the Army Corps’ nationwide permits, with a focus on those permits that are allowing the most harm now or that are likely to be abused in the future. Fight attempts to weaken the Clean Water Act under the guise of permitting “reform.”
Protect 404c veto authority under the Clean Water Act: Ensure protections of our most precious water resources by protecting the President’s authority to veto largescale projects that would cause irreversible damage to critical waters.
Support development and approve water testing methods and engage communities in water protection: EPA should quickly develop and approve rapid water testing methods and support research and development of testing technology to ensure detection of contaminants in water sources for safeguarding public health. Agencies should also prioritize community engagement and information dissemination initiatives and empower communities to participate in protecting and preserving their water resources.
Fully fund programs that protect clean water and communities.
Significantly increase the base budgets for agencies critical to protecting clean water, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Justice (DOJ), and others.
Ensure robust funding for water infrastructure programs that communities rely on to protect and provide clean water in their communities and that support access to safe, clean, and affordable water. In particular, more funding for low-income water affordability, to address tribal water infrastructure challenges, and to support communities with technical assistance.
Ensure funding to support water quality monitoring, management, and watershed planning and restoration efforts.
Ensure robust funding for geographic water programs, such as the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Puget Sound, Gulf of Mexico, Delaware River Basin, and Long Island Sound, among others.
Ensure robust funding for programs that support water conservation, drought resilience, and other conditions exacerbated by climate change, and addressing water quantity and scarcity concerns particularly for Western states and Tribal nations
Address water quantity challenges, in particular for Tribes and communities facing water access issues.
Ensure access to clean drinking water and healthy rivers in communities experiencing water scarcity. Ensure that communities experiencing water shortages are prepared and/or equipped with policies and infrastructure that build resilience to, and capacity to address, water scarcity.
Support the protection and recognition of tribal water rights. Support federal policies and programs that facilitate the use of consumptive and non-consumptive tribal water rights and access to clean water. Support tribal sovereignty by ensuring federal agencies conduct meaningful consultation with Tribes on all actions that may impact tribal water resources.
Reduce inorganic contaminants in our waters
Stop microplastics discharges and single-use plastics getting into our waters: Promote policies to hold producers accountable for plastic pollution getting into our waters and policies to reduce and prevent microplastic and single-use plastics in our waters across the country.
Ensure safe disposal of coal ash: Strengthen EPA regulations under the Solid Waste Disposal Act to safeguard communities and their water sources from toxic coal ash by mandating financial responsibility for cleanup, requiring prompt closure of hazardous sites, strictly monitoring state programs, and prohibiting the use of coal ash as structural fill. Furthermore, the EPA should enforce all existing health and safety requirements for coal ash sites, including the provisions of the 2015 and 2024 coal ash rules.