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Call for Action: Sign to Tell the EPA Not to Weaken 404(c) Rules!

As we shared in the last WPN Update, the Trump Administration is proposing to change the rules for Clean Water Act Section 404(c) in a way that will limit the use of this critical tool for protecting the nation’s waters and wildlife from the most egregious actions. Now, we are asking WPN members and other organizations to sign on to our letter to oppose changes to Section 404(c) rules. Section 404(c) serves as a vital tool - an action of last resort - to stop the most unacceptably damaging harm to the nation’s rivers, streams, and wetlands.

The EPA has used its 404(c) authority to veto 13 projects, protecting more than 200,000 acres of wetlands and 36 miles of rivers and streams in 11 states. Such 404(c) vetoes have been instrumental for the WPN and many organizations to stop environmentally disastrous projects, such as the Yazoo Pumps Flood Control Project in Mississippi and the Spruce No. 1 Surface Coal Mine in West Virginia. A proposed 404(c) action, if finalized, would impose important restrictions on the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay Alaska to protect habitat that supports the largest salmon fishery on earth.

Add your organization to those calling on the EPA to maintain their existing 404(c) rules and to revoke the June Memorandum that directs unlawful time limits and unnecessary revisions of those rules.

Click here to sign the letter by Tuesday, December 4, 2018.

Click here to read the sign-on letter.
If you have any questions, please email Ilana Rubin at rubini@nwf.org.

Federal Water Policy Updates

Appropriations: Congress now has until December 7 to pass several appropriations bills in order to avoid a partial government shut-down of currently flat-funded agencies including the Department of Interior and EPA. Meanwhile, President Trump has repeatedly suggested that he may block remaining appropriations bills if they do not include border wall funding.

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): A bipartisan group of senators last week introduced a bill to extend the NFIP in an effort to stop the program from expiring on November 30, 2018. The bill would be another short-term reauthorization of the program, this time until May 31, 2019 - one day before the next hurricane season officially begins. If NFIP does expire on November 30, it could potentially be reauthorized by bundling it with appropriations bills that need to be passed by December 7 in order to avoid a government shutdown. In that case, the program would lapse for one week even as many communities continue to deal with the impacts of this year's hurricane season.

Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018: WRDA became public law in October as a title in "America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018." Click here to read our fact sheet that highlights WRDA's progress on Water Protection Network priorities, along with a summary of provisions that are both helpful and harmful for sound water resources planning.

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): The authorization of the LWCF expired on September 30, 2018. However, the Senate and House committees have each passed their own versions of a bill to reauthorize the program with bipartisan support. The Senate bill (S. 569) would provide permanent reauthorization and would mandate full funding for the program. The House version (H.R. 502) would permanently reauthorize LWCF but would not provide full funding. There is optimism in the House but doubt in Senate about the likelihood of passing an LWCF bill before the end of year.

Farm Bill: The most recent Farm Bill lapsed on September 30, 2018. As a result, programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program and Conservation Stewardship Program have stopped, preventing interested farmers from enrolling their lands in these conservation programs. The House and Senate have each passed their own versions of a 2018 Farm Bill, but for the last few months, conference committee members have been locked in their negotiations to reconcile significant differences between the bills. The House bill would cut conservation program funding by almost $800 million over the next decade. It also includes numerous anti-environmental riders, including one on the "Waters of the United States" Rule that defines what the Clean Water Act covers. Now, conference committee members are in the final stages of trying to resolve differences in order to put forward a combined 2018 Farm Bill they hope to be able to pass before the end of the year.

Coast Guard Authorization Act: The Senate last week passed the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2018 (S. 140) with wide bipartisan support. The bill ensures that pollution from ballast water, discharged from ships, is regulated under the Clean Water Act. The bill would continue the EPA's authority to set ballast water pollution standards while charging the Coast Guard with monitoring and enforcing compliance with those standards. Language in the bill also authorizes a program to monitor invasive species in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.

Upcoming Stakeholder Webinars with the Army Corps

The US Army Corps of Engineers is holding two webinars open to the people across the nation in order to share updates with and hear input from the public about Civil Works projects and permitting. The webinars will be held on November 27 and 29 at 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST on each day.

Click here for more information about the webinars.

Selected Recent Reports

INLAND WATERWAYS: Actions Needed to Increase Budget Transparency and Contracting Efficiency, a November 2018 report from the Government Accoountability Office (GAO) with recommendations to the US Army Corps about how they spend construction funds.

DAM SAFETY: FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] Should Analyze Portfolio-Wide Risks, an October 2018 report from GAO with recommendations to FERC about hydropower dam safety measures.

How Wildfires Are Polluting Rivers and Threatening Water Supplies, an article published at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Click here to listen to a short podcast from the University of Colorado Boulder about how wildfires contaminate fresh water.

Beyond the 1984 Perspective: Narrow Focus on Modern Wildfire Trends Underestimates Future Risks to Water Security, a recent study published in Earth's Future about wildfire trends over time and the threat of high-severity wildfires on water security.

Urbanization exacerbated the rainfall and flooding caused by hurricane Harvey in Houston and Anthropogenic influences on major tropical cyclone events, two studies recently published in Nature.

Can large carnivores change streams via a trophic cascade?, a study recently published in Ecohydrology about water system benefits from reintroducing predator species.

Unintended consequences of dams and reservoirs, a study from Uppsala University researchers about how dams and reservoirs can make droughts worse.

What Lurks beneath the Surface?, an article in Scientific American about toxins produced by blue-green algae.

What's Included This Week:

Call for Action: Sign to Tell the EPA Not to Weaken 404(c) Rules!

Federal Water Policy Updates

Upcoming Stakeholder Webinars with the Army Corps

Selected Recent Reports

Army Corps Public Notices Published in the Past 45 Days