GOP moves to block EPA from reinterpreting Clean Water Act jurisdiction

The spending plan House Republicans put forward to carry the government through the end of the year includes language that would effectively halt U.S. EPA's effort to restore Clean Water Act protections rolled back during the George W. Bush administration.

Environmental advocates fumed today over language they found tucked deep into the GOP House leadership's proposed continuing resolution, a spending plan that would fund the government through Sept. 30. The language would block EPA from spending any money "to implement, administer, or enforce a change" to any regulations or interpretations that define what waters, wetlands, lakes, ponds or streams are covered under the Clean Water Act.

Uncertainty created by two recent Supreme Court decisions over what waterways are covered, coupled with the narrow definition put forth in 2007 by the Bush administration, has hamstrung EPA's clean water enforcement efforts ever since, forcing the agency to delay or drop hundreds of pollution cases and investigations.

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