Supreme Court Dramatically Narrows Scope of Clean Water Act
The Supreme Court today stripped out key protections from the Clean Water Act, weakening the law, and narrowing its ability to defend the quality of the nation’s waterways.
Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), made the following statement:
“The Supreme Court ripped the heart out of the law we depend on to protect American waters and wetlands. The majority chose to protect polluters at the expense of healthy wetlands and waterways. This decision will cause incalculable harm. Communities across the country will pay the price.
“What’s important now is to repair the damage. The government must enforce the remaining provisions of law that protect the clean water we all rely on for drinking, swimming, fishing, irrigation and more. States should quickly strengthen their own laws. Congress needs to act to restore protections for all our waters.
“We’ll stand with frontline communities, scientists, health professionals and others to press for the responsible clean water protections we need.”