(TALLAHASSEE) - Environment
Florida today
challenged a Bush Administration rule that will allow increased pollution in rivers,
lakes, and streams.
In
a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, EnvironmentFlorida,
Environment New Hampshire, Environment
Rhode Island, and Environment America seek to set aside the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s June 13 water transfer rule. Under the new rule, polluters would be able
to transfer water contaminated with toxic chemicals, sewage, invasive species, or
other pollutants into a clean waterway without first obtaining, or then complying
with, a Clean Water Act discharge permit.
“The
Bush Administration’s rule will increase pollution in America’s waterways,” said Christy
Leavitt, Environment Florida Clean Water Advocate. “By exempting the pumping of polluted water into
another waterway from the Clean Water Act, the Bush Administration has again
undermined one of the nation’s core environmental laws.”
The types of water transfers subject to EPA’s new exemption can
degrade water quality in a variety of ways, and can have serious environmental and
economic consequences. For example, such
transfers can channel contaminated waters into waterways used for swimming,
fishing, or drinking, or allow the intermixing of waters with radically
different fundamental characteristics (such as salinity, turbidity, or temperature).
Environment
Florida believes
that the only meaningful way to regulate and mitigate the environmental impacts
of water transfers is to ensure they are covered by the Clean Water Act’s
permit program. Environment America, other national, state, and
local environmental organizations, and 13 state attorneys general opposed the
rule when EPA proposed it in 2006.
Prior to
EPA finalizing the rule, U.S. Courts of Appeal in the First, Second, and
Eleventh Circuits had ruled squarely that water transfers are regulated under
the Clean Water Act’s permit program.
“EPA once
again listened to the special interests and finalized a rule that puts the
environment and public health in danger,” concluded Leavitt. “We are challenging the rule in court to
ensure that our clean waterways stay clean.”
Environment
Florida and
the other plaintiffs in the case are represented by the National Environmental
Law Center (NELC), a non-profit organization dedicated to upholding anti-pollution
laws.
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