TRUMP AGENDA - Poisoning the Well

"Trump administration freezes Obama rule on water protection" PBS NewsHour 2/28/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  EPA chief Scott Pruitt recently promised an aggressive rollback of regulations that had been put in place by former President Obama, and President Trump made good on Pruitt's promise with an order to dismantle a rule about smaller bodies of water.  William Brangham learns more from Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post about what today's move means for water regulations.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  It's called the Waters of the United States rule, and it has to do with which smaller bodies of water, like streams and wetlands, should be regulated and protected by the federal government under the Clean Water Act.

That question has been litigated in court battles for years.

And so for more on what today's move is all about, I'm joined now by Juliet Eilperin, who's been reporting on this for The Washington Post.

Juliet, welcome back to the NewsHour.

Before we get into the rollback, can you tell me what this rule is really about?  And this was, as I understand it, a very big part of Obama's environmental legacy.

JULIET EILPERIN, The Washington Post:  This is a 2015 rule, which has been subject to litigation, which tries to clarify what, as you alluded to, has been really a 30-year battle over what jurisdiction the federal government has over these smaller streams, some are intermittent, some wetlands, and essentially what the federal government can tell Americans, including farmers, ranchers, homebuilders, what they can and cannot do, even when it has to do with private property, because it has implications for smaller water bodies that are crucial water supply for larger water bodies across the United States.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  So, is this about a rule that is trying to protect these waters from pollution?  Is that the issue here?

JULIET EILPERIN:  Partially, it's pollution, but what it pertains to many often is whether they can be drained or filled in.  All of those actions, which are in some ways the inevitable product of these operations that happen in various different sectors of the economy, have implications for whether that water will then flow into larger water bodies.

And so it is usually a restriction on whether you can drain something or dig up something, as opposed to, for example, just dumping in pollutants into a small water body, although, technically, it could apply to that as well.

ENVIRONMENT - Farmers vs EPA

"Why farmers are concerned about EPA’s new rules on protected water" PBS NewsHour 5/29/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have finalized new rules about what kinds of waterways are protected under the Clean Water Act, adding the smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands that feed drinking water for some Americans.  Political editor Lisa Desjardins reports on what the shift means, and why it’s drawn both praise and criticism.

Editor’s note:  The new rules regarding America’s waterways were issued jointly by Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. Read more.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  This week, the United States changed the way it looks at one our most precious resources, water.  The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a new rule about what kinds of waterways it protects, to include things like tributaries.

The change has brought both applause and sharp criticism.

Our political editor, Lisa Desjardins, reports on what this shift means.

SEAN O’BYRNE, Owner, Great Waters Brew Pub:  What can I get you guys?

LISA DESJARDINS (NewsHour):  Sean O’Byrne owns the Great Waters Brew Pub in downtown Saint Paul, and the main ingredient in the beer he crafts is local well water.

For the past several years, a kind of fear has mounted for him, that some of the protections initially offered by the 1972 Clean Water Act have eroded, putting Minnesota’s great waters at risk.

SEAN O’BYRNE:  I’m a little scared at what people are trying to do to it, take some of the teeth out of it.

LISA DESJARDINS:  That’s why he’s cheering the new rule finalized this week by the Environmental Protection Agency, a rule meant to clarify which bodies of water can be regulated by the federal government.