Editor’s Note (May 25, 2023): Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. In a 5-4 decision, the court found that the US EPA had construed its authority too broadly. The ruling limits the types of rivers, wetlands and other bodies of water the agency can protect under the Clean Water Act.
When Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire on June 22, 1969, it wasn’t the first time this notoriously filthy waterway had caught fire, nor was it the worst. However, the international media took the incident as a stark example of the worst of the country’s waters after decades of uncontrolled industrial and sewage pollution.
The fire, which occurred at a time when public concern for the environment was on the rise, was one of many that prompted Congress to pass an ambitious, bipartisan landmark bill. In the 50 years since the Clean Water Act (CWA) was enacted, the health of America’s rivers, lakes, and streams has improved. In Cuyahoga, pollution-sensitive insects, fish and birds have returned, as have kayakers and recreational anglers.
However, the CWA is under attack within the court system by those who seek to undermine it, and there are multiple sources of contamination that current law does not adequately address. The National Resources Defense Council reports that more than 80 percent of bays and estuaries and about 55 percent of rivers and streams have dangerous levels of at least one pollutant as of 2019. For our health and economic prosperity, we need stronger protection for our waterways. And we need the courts to uphold the CWA against current challenges.
A major issue for court debate is what waters the CWA covers. The purpose of the law is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters” and eliminate “discharge of pollutants into navigable waters.” The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, which administer the CWA, have always interpreted these mandates broadly. But in 2020, the Trump administration issued a rule exempting many wetlands and small streams from pollution limits because they are not navigable.
The Biden administration has proposed rules to restore protections for streams and wetlands, but a lawsuit due before the Supreme Court this fall could undermine those protections.of sackett vs EPA, Petitioners argue that wetlands on their property, and by extension millions of other wetlands, are not covered by the law. But these wetlands are connected to other navigable bodies of water, and the argument “denies hydrological reality,” as the 12 scientific bodies put it in court briefs. River water is not adequately protected unless we also protect the many sources of water that flow into it. Therefore, the Supreme Court must follow science and rule in favor of the EPA. This ongoing legal debate also highlights the need for Congress to strengthen the CWA using the best available science.
Congress must finally face a long-standing problem. While the CWA addresses point sources such as factories and sewage systems, it does not adequately address non-point sources, namely contamination from chemicals from parking lots, roads, fields and lawns. It can be washed into waterways by rain or melted snow. Agricultural fertilizers and lawn fertilizers contain nitrogen and phosphorus, which have been found to grow toxic algae from the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay to Lake Erie. Such blooms contribute to the death of fish, and in 2014, the tap water in Toledo, Ohio, became unsafe to drink.
Congress will take stronger action to curb this pollution by amending the CWA beyond largely voluntary measures exempting agricultural runoff, or through other legislation targeting non-point sources. I have to. Policy makers need to work with farmers, ranchers and scientists to develop strategies linked to clear indicators and provide specific incentives. One example is a program that pays ranchers in Florida to keep water and nutrients on their land. Additionally, because EPA is required to set environmental standards for nitrogen and phosphorus, states must set those standards under the CWA, which will reduce the load of these pollutants from point sources. help.
We have made significant progress towards Congress’ 1972 goal of decontaminating the nation’s waters so that people can once again fish, swim, and draw drinking water from them. accomplished. The Supreme Court and members of Congress now have a chance to uphold existing laws and enact far-sighted and bold legislation. This is to live up to the legacy of its predecessors and ensure clean water for future generations.
