Position on S.J. Res. 22

The availability of clean water is vital to our country and our national parks. NPCA urges members of the Senate to vote against the veto override of S.J. Res. 22.

The EPA and Army Corps have spent years talking to the public, including state and local governments, about providing clarity to which water bodies will be covered by federal law. After being asked to propose a rule by stakeholders from all sides, the EPA and Army Corps did so and received nearly one million comments on what they proposed. Many of these comments suggested substantive changes on how to define what a water of the United States is. The EPA and Army Corps incorporated many of the suggestions in the rule finalized on May 27.

S.J. Res. 22 stops clean water protections from going into force. More radically, it prohibits the EPA and Army Corps from proposing anything that would be substantially the same as what has already been developed after years of deliberation.

For years the Clean Water Act protected all wetlands and tributaries in and around national parks. However, many of these wetlands, small streams, and lakes have been at increased risk of pollution and destruction following Supreme Court decisions in 2001 (SWANCC) and 2006 (Rapanos). This lack of protection has taken its toll, especially for wetlands and intermittent and headwater streams, slowing permitting decisions for responsible development, and reducing protections for drinking water supplies and critical habitat. More than half of our national parks, like Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Colonial National Historical Park, and Rock Creek Park, have waters that are impaired and polluted. Over 117 million Americans, including many visitors to national parks, get their drinking water from these surface waters.

Protecting and restoring wetlands and streams is critical to protecting the waters in our national parks. Healthy wetlands improve water quality by filtering polluted runoff from farm fields and city streets that otherwise would flow into rivers, streams, and water bodies across the country. Wetlands and tributaries provide vital habitat to wildlife, waterfowl, and fish, reduce flooding, and provide clean water for fishing, swimming, and paddling in national parks.