Louisiana NGO disagrees with water rules rollback
138 views · Published 17 December 2018 · 2:18 · Indexed 5 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(12 Dec 2018) The Trump administration proposed withdrawing federal protections for countless waterways and wetlands across the country Tuesday, making good on President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to weaken landmark Obama-era water rules long opposed by some developers, farmers and oil, gas, and mining executives. Environmental groups said the Trump administration proposal would have a sweeping impact on how the country safeguards the nation's waterways, scaling back not just a 2015 Obama administration interpretation of federal jurisdiction, but how federal agencies enforce the 1972 Clean Water Act. The changes would affect what waterways and wetlands fall under jurisdiction of the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Trump administration would remove federal protections for wetlands nationally unless they are connected to another federally protected waterway, and for streams, creeks, washes and ditches that run only during rains or snow melt. The decision hasn't been welcomed by all. "Up and down the Mississippi River, you have farmers using pesticides that run into our river," said Anne Rolfes, Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade environmental group. "You have big industry that's also using the Mississippi River as a dumping ground. That all collects down here, uh, at the bottom of the Mississippi River, flows into our Gulf of Mexico, and kills, you know, an enormous swath of life. And, that's the sort of commonsense protection we need. I mean, already the dead zone is an enormous problem, you know, that would take some real action to solve. That kind of action is not rolling back laws. It would be enforcing laws. You know, there really isn't anything debatable about clean water. We have to drink it. Sea life that we like to eat needs to live in it. It's why Republican presidents have been at the forefront of enacting these laws, and they ought to be protected." Some environmentalists say the move could remove federal protections for millions of miles of wetlands and waterways, leaving them more vulnerable to destruction by developers and farmers or to oil spills, fertilizer runoff and other pollutants. Wheeler said there was no firm data on what percentage of waterways would lose protections. "The laws that are being gutted today are laws that the Nixon administration and both Bush administration's emphasized as important, and that was the need for wetland protections and protections of our waterways and our drinking water," Rolfes said. "And in Louisiana, I think we know, unfortunately, better than most places the need for wetlands. Hurricane Katrina gave us all a crash course in why wetland protection is urgent. And the idea that we would let those wetlands be destroyed and diminished for really no good reason, it's a sad day. And yet, there are a lot of people and groups and organizations working to stop these rollbacks. And, obviously, I have some faith in that." Rolfes says the reasoning of protecting private property is not a good enough reason for the rollbacks. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8744e45f29b41f50b6289fc1478df08a
