The results of a Congressional investigation details the deterioration of the Clean Water Act enforcement program in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that called into question whether certain rivers, streams, wetlands and other waters remain protected from pollution. The U.S. Supreme Court case is Rapanos v. United States, 373 F.3d 626 (2006).
The investigation, by Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar, uncovered information EPA is keeping hidden from Congressional investigators and the public: namely the details of over 500 clean water enforcement cases that have been dropped or stalled in the wake of the 2006 Rapanos decision -- almost half of the agency's annual water enforcement docket.
A leaked EPA memo reported that in the period between July 2006 through December 2007, 305 Clean Water Act enforcement cases were dropped and 147 were officially "de-prioritized." In 63 additional instances, polluters have used the Bush administration's interpretation of the Supreme Court decision as a shield against enforcement.
The regions with the most lost enforcement actions are EPA Region 6, which includes the states of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, where 138 enforcement cases were dropped, and EPA Region 8, which includes the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, where 106 enforcement cases have been dropped.
The Congressional report is at http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081216113810.pdf.
The investigation, by Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar, uncovered information EPA is keeping hidden from Congressional investigators and the public: namely the details of over 500 clean water enforcement cases that have been dropped or stalled in the wake of the 2006 Rapanos decision -- almost half of the agency's annual water enforcement docket.
A leaked EPA memo reported that in the period between July 2006 through December 2007, 305 Clean Water Act enforcement cases were dropped and 147 were officially "de-prioritized." In 63 additional instances, polluters have used the Bush administration's interpretation of the Supreme Court decision as a shield against enforcement.
The regions with the most lost enforcement actions are EPA Region 6, which includes the states of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, where 138 enforcement cases were dropped, and EPA Region 8, which includes the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, where 106 enforcement cases have been dropped.
The Congressional report is at http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20081216113810.pdf.
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