TO: Editorial Staf FROM: West Virginia Rivers Coalition and National Wildlife Federation DATE: May 27, 2015 SUBJECT: New EPA Rule Will Protect Drinking Water and Wildlife Dear Editorial Board Writer: Today, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers finalized a rule restoring Clean Water Act protections to more than half of the nation’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands. This should be welcome news for everyone who depends on clean water flowing from the tap, or who was hoping to spend some time at a river, lake or beach this summer. For more than a decade, most of our nation’s streams and many of our wetlands have been stuck in a legal limbo caused by two divided Supreme Court decisions, actions of the previous administration and inaction by Congress. The legal confusion has had consequences:  It compromised federal enforcement in more than 500 pollution cases.  The rate of wetlands loss increased by 140% immediately in the wake of the Supreme Court rulings. Protecting West Virginians’ Drinking Water  54% of West Virginians get their drinking water from sources that rely on small streams currently vulnerable to pollution. The rule ensures their protection under the Clean Water Act.  The rule protects 8,390 miles of streams that feed into West Virginia’s drinking water sources, including 57% of the stream miles in WV’s Source Water Protection Areas. Broad Public Support The smaller streams that will now be unambiguously protected by the rule provide drinking water for 117 million Americans. The rule will also benefit wildlife across the country: manatees in Florida, brook trout in West Virginia; mallards in Minnesota, salmon in Washington—to name just a few. With its many benefits, it is no surprise the public broadly supports the rule. A recent League of Conservation Voters poll found that 79% of voters think Congress should allow the rule to move forward. Among West Virginia voters, a 2014 bi-partisan poll conducted by Global Strategies Group and Bob Moore, Inc. for WV Rivers Coalition revealed:  More than 4 in 5 voters think the government should play a role in preserving headwaters in West Virginia, with 58 percent saying the government should play a major role.  88% of voters find issues involving clean water and the health of West Virginia’s headwaters important to their voting decision. A majority (59%) find these issues very important to their voting decision.  79% of voters say that "we can protect land and water quality in West Virginia and have a strong economy with good jobs at the same time, without having to choose one over the other." Manufactured Controversy Certain industry groups have long planned a scare campaign to defeat any attempts at restoring the Clean Water Act. Back in 2010, one such lobbyist described the polluters’ plan to a reporter from the New York Times: “The game plan is to emphasize the scary possibilities...If you can get Glenn Beck to say that government storm troopers are going to invade your property, farmers in the Midwest will light up their congressmen’s switchboards.” These deceptive tactics—such as the video where a Missouri farmer wildly exaggerates the scope of the rule to the tune of the theme from Frozen—appear to have had an efect. The House has already passed two bills efectively blocking the rule from going forward. In the Senate, Senators Manchin and Capito are original sponsors of S. 1140, the “Federal Water Quality Protection Act”, that would block the rule and further limit waterbodies long protected by the Clean Water Act. Members of the WV Safe Water Roundtable related their disapproval to the West Virginia Senators of such actions that ignore science and undermine protections of citizens’ drinking water supplies. Improvements to the Rule The EPA and the Corps did their best to appease some of these concerns through the public comment process. The final rule is extremely explicit about which water bodies are protected and which are not. It excludes irrigation systems, ponds, and many ditches, while clearly restating the Clean Water Act’s existing exemptions for normal farming, ranching, and forestry practices.  The agencies met with more than 400 stakeholder groups.  More than a million Americans personally gave input on the rule to the EPA— and 87% of those comments were in favor.  Hunting and fishing groups are strongly in support of the rule.  2,000 West Virginians and 17 organizational members of the WV Safe Water Roundtable called for a strong Clean Water Rule in 2014. Protecting Water for People and Wildlife It is particularly good news that the EPA also listened to input from scientists and amended the rule to include some of the Prairie Potholes in the upper Midwest. This region is known as “America’s Duck Factory,” as up to seventy percent of the nation’s waterfowl breed in these wetlands. The chemical leak in West Virginia, the toxic algae outbreak in Ohio, and the coal ash disaster in North Carolina should remind us what is really at stake here. This rule is about protecting our drinking water supplies and our natural resources for future generations. Most Americans strongly support federal protections for Americans’ drinking water supplies, but this new rule is facing a tough fight in Congress. An editorial or column in your outlet could provide an important, balanced perspective that our Senators need to hear. Thank you for your consideration, and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. Angie Rosser Executive Director West Virginia Rivers Coalition 304-437-1274 arosser@wvrivers.org Jan Goldman-Carter Senior Manager, Wetlands and Water Resources National Wildlife Federation 202-797-6894 goldmancarterj@nwf.org