Advocacy groups are urging individuals to take action to help prevent the passage of a Senate Energy and Water Development bill which contains amendments that seek to limit the ability of the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to enforce regulations established by the Clean Water Act. The bill, proposed by senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Dean Heller (R-NV), establishes provisions that would prevent the two agencies from altering or updating guidelines that define what types of water bodies are protected by the Clean Water Act.
The amendments in the bill, H.R. 2354, were drafted as a response to efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to draft new rules and regulations which clarify what water bodies fall under the Clean Water Act's protections. These agency efforts to reduce ambiguity concerning what water bodies are protected are a direct result of a series of Supreme Court Decisions and directives by the Bush administration which introduced the uncertainty. Specifically, ambiguity was recently introduced regarding whether certain wetlands and water bodies that may run dry during certain seasons or drought conditions are considered protected by the Clean Water Act.