U.S. House Committee Passes “Cooperating with Polluters Act”

Environment New York

Recently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 (H.R. 2018), a bill that would reverse decades of progress in protections ensured by the Clean Water Act. Fortunately, New York Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Timothy Bishop voted against this dirty water bill. H.R. 2018 is an attack on two key components of the Clean Water Act: enforcement of water quality standards and protection of aquatic resources from discharges of dredged and fill material.

Eric Whalen, field organizer for Environment New York said: “H.R. 2018 endangers our nation’s rivers, lakes, bays, wetlands and streams that are so vital to our health and economy. Specifically, if this bill became law, it would undermine the progress that has been made to protect cherished places like the Hudson River, the Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, and endangered areas like those affected by mountaintop mining removal.

“This is not the time to take steps backwards for the health of our environment, drinking water, and economy,” Whalen stated.

“This bill is a blatant example of putting the interests of polluters over those of the public and would be more appropriately named the ‘Cooperating with Polluters Act’,” remarked Whalen. “We want to thank New York Representatives Bishop and Nadler for voting against this dirty water bill and for fighting to keep our waterways clean, and we urge the rest of New York’s federal delegation to vote against this bill when it goes to the House floor.”