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A chance for Congress to clarify a landmark environmental law
POSTED: 10:20 a.m. EDT, May 14, 2009
When Congress approved the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, its intent was clear: Protect the nation's lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands from unregulated pollution and destruction. The country made substantial progress in repairing and restoring the integrity of its waters.
Who would turn the clock back on the Cuyahoga River or elsewhere in the country?
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court, in two misguided rulings, departed from what had been working for three decades. The justices narrowed the scope of the law and left regulators confused about its implementation. The result? Myriad streams and wetlands have been left vulnerable to development.
Now Congress has an opportunity to reassert the original intent of the act by approving the Clean Water Restoration Act. The effort begins in the Senate, committee work now nearing a conclusion, George Voinovich well-placed to advance the worthy cause.
The Ohio Republican understandably looks to strike a balance between economic interests and environmental protection. That actually has been the legacy of the act, prosperity linked to sound stewardship of natural resources. Most important, in this instance, is the need to assert first principles, clarifying the broad jurisdiction of all the country's waters, making plain the natural connections, from the Ohio River, say, to the seemingly isolated wetland, its value in preventing floods often unnoticed.
Thirty-seven years ago, Congress applied federal authority in an enlightened way. Now it must reaffirm the commitment to protect the nation's waters.
When Congress approved the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, its intent was clear: Protect the nation's lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands from unregulated pollution and destruction. The country made substantial progress in repairing and restoring the integrity of its waters.
Who would turn the clock back on the Cuyahoga River or elsewhere in the country?
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court, in two misguided rulings, departed from what had been working for three decades. The justices narrowed the scope of the law and left regulators confused about its implementation. The result? Myriad streams and wetlands have been left vulnerable to development.
Now Congress has an opportunity to reassert the original intent of the act by approving the Clean Water Restoration Act. The effort begins in the Senate, committee work now nearing a conclusion, George Voinovich well-placed to advance the worthy cause.
The Ohio Republican understandably looks to strike a balance between economic interests and environmental protection. That actually has been the legacy of the act, prosperity linked to sound stewardship of natural resources. Most important, in this instance, is the need to assert first principles, clarifying the broad jurisdiction of all the country's waters, making plain the natural connections, from the Ohio River, say, to the seemingly isolated wetland, its value in preventing floods often unnoticed.
Thirty-seven years ago, Congress applied federal authority in an enlightened way. Now it must reaffirm the commitment to protect the nation's waters.
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