Clean Water Network Update: A Great Week in the Senate for Clean Water!

When the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) passed
the Clean Water Restoration Act, S. 787; the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009, S.878 (formerly known as the beach protection act); the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act, S. 937; and the Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act (Great Lakes Legacy Act), S. 933; it was a big step forward for protecting our nation's waters.  This would not have happened without the hard work of Clean Water Network members and partners. Thanks for all of your hard work!

As promised, here are additional details on the bills passed last week. Many thanks to Nancy Stoner, NRDC, Katherine Baer, American Rivers and Chad Lord from the Healing the Waters-Great Lakes Coalition for providing updates on S. 878, S. 937 and S. 933.

S. 878, the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 (aka the BEACH Act Reauthorization bill) included both of our key priorities that were missing in the House bill, a 4 hour rapid testing requirement and money for restoration as well as monitoring and public notification.  If you are in NJ or OH, please thank Senators Lautenberg (NJ) and Voinovich (OH) for their support on these issues, and if you are in CA or MD, please thank EPW Chairwoman Boxer (CA) and Senator Cardin (MD) for moving these bills through the committee.  For more on the beach act please check out NRDC's blog by clicking on the following link (note if the link does not work please cut and paste):
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/nstoner/be_safe_at_the_beach.html
 
The Sewage Overflow and Community Right to Know Act, S.937, passed out of the EPW Committee with only Senator Inhofe (OK) voting "no."  This bill was sponsored by EPW Chairman Boxer (CA), Senators Lautenberg (NJ), Menendez (NJ), Whitehouse (RI), Klobuchar (MN) and Senator Merkely (OR) (he joined on as a co-sponsor during last week's committee markup). Thanks also to Senator Cardin (MD) for his support. This is the same version of the bill that has already passed the House this year as part of the House State Revolving Fund reauthorization (HR 1262). The bill requires that sewage treatment plants monitor for overflows and notify the public when a spill has the potential to affect public health.  Please thank the sponsors of this critical bill as well.

S. 933, Contaminated Sediment Remediation Reauthorization Act (Great Lakes Legacy Act) triples the funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act, passed by voice vote in Committee.  The U.S. House passed similar legislation earlier this year as part of a larger water infrastructure bill (H.R. 1262).  S. 933 provides funding to take the necessary steps to clean up contaminated sediment in "Areas of Concern located wholly or partially in the United States," including specific funding designated for public outreach and research components. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) was designated to implement the Legacy Act.

As reported in last week's alert, the version of the Clean Water Restoration Act, S. 787, that passed last week, was a compromise offered by EPW Chairman Boxer (CA) together with Senators' Bauchus (MT) and Klobuchar (MN). The substitute bill contained many of the important provisions in the original bill introduced by Senator Feingold (WI), including striking the word navigable and substituting that with "Waters of the United States." In this amended version "waters of the United States" includes "all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas and all interstate and intrastate waters." Striking the world navigable re-extends important protections to seasonal and intermittent streams that are not navigable for part of the year and are thus not protected currently.  The compromise version also included exemptions for prior converted cropland and waste treatment systems including treatment ponds or lagoons.