Carper: Trump’s Dirty Water Rule Breaks the Law and Defies Common Sense

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its replacement for the Clean Water Rule, which the agency repealed earlier this year.

“By removing federal clean water protection from millions of miles of streams and more than half of the nation’s wetlands, this rule will result in more pollution, dirtier water, less certainty and higher costs for everyone except the upstream polluters the Trump Administration wants to protect. It breaks the law and ignores the basic science that tells us our waterways are critically interconnected. It defies common sense, which tells us that water flows downhill and downstream, carrying pollution with it. The worst impacts will be felt by disadvantaged communities downstream that will see higher drinking water bills as their utilities have more pollution to scrub.

“Irresponsible development and pollution industries are the real winners under this rule. EPA is giving the green light to dump waste in our waterways and destroy wetlands that keep our waters clean, soak up flood waters, and provide a nursery and home to countless fish and other wildlife.

“This rule defies the intent of Congress and the recommendations made by EPA’s very own Science Advisory Board. It’s just not common sense.”

Earlier this month, Senator Carper sent a letter to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Paul Ray urging him to address concerns raised by the EPA Science Advisory Board earlier this month, including the board’s clear finding that administration’s new definition of WOTUS “decreases protection for our nation’s waters and does not support the objective of maintaining ‘the chemical, physical and biological integrity’ of these waters.”

The full text of the letter to Mr. Ray can be found here.

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