Trump's past actions and future plans regarding the environment

As some of you may be aware, I followed Trump's actions regarding the environment from the first day that he was in office - when he used his executive order to approve the DAPL pipeline to go through the Missouri River. Since then he and his Republican cabinet appointees (rich donors and fossil fuel execs) enacted over 100 actions that weakened environmental protections including: weakening the Air Pollution Policy; weakening the fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for passenger cars and light trucks; eliminating the methane emissions standards for oil and gas facilities; weakening the rule meant to reduce air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas; rescinding water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands; weakening the National Environmental Policy Act (one of the country’s most significant environmental laws); ending the automatic application of full protections for ‘threatened’ plants and animals (the classification one step below ‘endangered’ in the Endangered Species Act); and scaling back pollution protections for certain tributaries and wetlands that were regulated under the Clean Water Act.

See the list of over 100 actions against the environment here: 
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

If Trump is re-elected, he will do even more damage. Here are the plans if Trump gets in office. 

TRUMP'S PROJECT 2025 ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Gen Z is more likely to consider climate change a legislative priority than past generations. Young Americans overwhelmingly want to see their government take action to protect the environment and mitigate the potential impact of climate change. Instead of taking this action, Project 2025 proposes rollbacks of environmental protections and aims to undo Biden’s pro-climate actions.

According to Project 2025, an incoming conservative administration would:

-Rescind all climate policies from its foreign aid programs

-Cease collaborating with and funding progressive foundations, corporations, international institutions, and NGOs that advocate on behalf of climate fanaticism

-Repeal the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)

-End the EPA’s focus on climate change and green subsidies

-Eliminate the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

-Eliminate the Clean Energy Corps by revoking funding and eliminating all positions and personnel hired under the program

-Direct the Department of Energy to “end the Biden Administration’s unprovoked war on fossil fuels, restore America’s energy independence, oppose eyesore windmills built at taxpayer expense, and respect the right of Americans to buy and drive cars of their own choosing” (page 286)

-Stop all federal grants to environmental advocacy groups

-Approve the 2020 Willow EIS, the largest pending oil and gas projection in the United States in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and expand approval from three to five drilling pads

-Withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement

-Reduce proposed fuel economy levels

-Rollback Biden’s executive orders on climate and energy, and reinstated the Trump-era Energy Dominance Agenda, which remove a series of environmental protections, including:

SO 3348: Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium

SO 3349: American Energy Independence

SO 3350: America-First Offshore Energy Strategy

SO 3351: Strengthening the Department of the Interior’s Energy Portfolio

SO 3352: National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska;

SO 3354: Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program;

SO 3355: Streamlining National Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807, “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects”

SO 3358: Executive Committee for Expedited Permitting

SO 3360: Rescinding Authorities Inconsistent with Secretary’s Order 3349, “American Energy Independence;”

SO 3380: Public Notice of the Costs Associated with Developing Department of the Interior Publications and Similar Documents;

SO 3385: Enforcement Priorities; and

SO 3389: Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act Section GEN Z’S GUIDE TO PROJECT 2025 from Voters of Tomorrow Please, share this blog with your environmentally conscious friends.

Public Comments: Tell CBP NO Border Wall on San Pedro River

Center for Biological Diversity's Laiken Jordahl, went to the San Pedro River, which is the last undammed, free-flowing river in the Southwest. The Border Patrol has announced plans to build across this pristine river, choking off vital waterways and access to habitat for wildlife. The Trump administration has dismantled 41 environmental and health laws to push this through - including the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. This would be a disaster for Arizona!  Ecotourism is a big part of our $22 billion dollar tourist industry!

https://www.facebook.com/CenterforBioDiv/videos/2422951604602736/

Comments and information will be accepted until Friday, July 5, 2019

Please, write a letter expressing your opposition to wall being built with your tax dollars on the San Pedro River. The river, the beauty and solace, and the habituate it provides must not be destroyed. Speak from your heart and head. And share this message with your friends.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, is seeking public input concerning a proposed border barrier project to construct new bollard wall in place of dilapidated and outdated designs in Pima and Cochise Counties.

CBP proposes to replace up to approximately 63 miles of pedestrian fencing and vehicle barrier with new bollard wall. The project also includes road construction and improvement and lighting installation. The proposed design of the new bollard wall includes 18-to-30 foot, concrete-filled steel bollards that are approximately 6” x 6” in diameter.

CBP is seeking input regarding the proposed project’s potential impacts to the environment, culture, and commerce, including potential socioeconomic impacts, and quality of life. Comments on the project will be considered as a part of CBP’s project planning process.

Comments and information will be accepted by email at:

commentsenv@cbp.dhs.gov

or mailed to:

U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. 6.5E Mail Stop 1039
Washington, DC 20229-1100

Comments should reference “Pima and Cochise Counties Border Infrastructure Projects” in the subject of the email.

If you would prefer, you can also sign a petition from Defend Wildlife.

(Consider personalizing it for more impact.) 

Send a Public Comment to EPA: No Water Polluter Loophole

EPA wants to make it easier for polluters to poison our nation’s water. Help us stop the latest assault on our water and health!

Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Trump's EPA have a complete disregard for our water. The latest assault comes on the heels of the Dirty Water Rule and is another handout to polluting industries.

On Monday, April 15, 2019, EPA announced that it would not protect surface waters contaminated with pollution that first moves through groundwater. This is a complete reversal from how EPA and states have acted in the past. The agency has required permits for this type of pollution for decades and it’s reckless to reverse course now.

It makes no sense for the Clean Water Act to cover pollution dumped from a pipe into a river, but not pollution that flows through groundwater into that same river.

Pollution from livestock feedlots, coal ash impoundments, sewage injection wells, pipelines, and other industrial sources can all enter surface waters by way of groundwater first. We can’t protect our surface waters if we allow them to become contaminated by nearby polluted groundwater. This decision ignores the fact EPA has required permits for this type of pollution for decades. And less than three years ago EPA said sewage injected in a well that reaches the ocean through groundwater requires a Clean Water Act permit.

Click here to submit a comment through Clean Water Action here. 

Please, consider personalizing the sample message below by following this link. 

Send to: Administrator Wheeler, Environmental Protection Agency 

Subject: Re: Docket ID No. EPA- HQ-OW-2019-0166

Dear Administrator Wheeler,

I strongly oppose the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision not to protect surface waters contaminated with pollution that first moves through groundwater. EPA and states have required permits for this type of pollution for decades and it’s reckless to reverse course now. It makes no sense for the Clean Water Act to cover pollution dumped from a pipe into a river, but not pollution that flows through groundwater into that same river. 

Your decision is nothing more than a handout to heavy polluting industries and will create a dangerous new loophole in the Clean Water Act. EPA must continue to hold industries accountable for dumping chemicals and other pollutants into groundwater that contaminates our nation’s rivers, lakes, and bays.

Public Comment period ends in June 7, 2019. 

Submit a formal public comment here

Tell Your Members of Congress: Repealing Waters of the U.S. Makes it Legal to Pollute Arizona Water

This map shows how the water from Cieenga Creek flows into Tucson's water supply.

This morning I listened to the confirmation hearing for Andrew Wheeler to head of the E.P.A. It was good to hear members of Congress challenging Wheeler's actions and pressing for climate action! But I was disheartened to hear Wheeler's statement that repealing the Waters of the U.S. rule would not affect the States' authority to protect their water. Unfortunately, that isn't true of Arizona. Arizona law prohibits the state from passing regulations that go beyond federal standards. So essentially repealing the Waters of the U.S. rule makes it legal to pollute our water. (See details in letter below.)

At Sustainable Tucson's environmental education meeting with Rep. Kirkpatrick, I urged her to codify the rule into law. My request is included in my water presentation that I posted here.

Please, consider writing your Representative and Senators to work on codifying the Waters of the US into law so it can't be changed by any acting president at will.

The details are included in the following e-mail I just sent to Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Please, read the letter and personalize it so it won't sound like a form letter.

You can contact Sinema at 602-598-7327 or email contact@sinema.senate.gov.

If you would like to thank Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick for meeting with us and urge her to codify the Waters of the U.S. into law, I believe she can be reached at:

https://www.kirkpatrickforcongress.com/contact/

(I will let you know when I get more permanent contact info.)

My letter: 

Dear Senator Kyrsten Sinema,

I believe that the future of Tucson depends on preserving and protecting our water supply. Towards that end, my husband and I volunteer a great deal of our time promoting conservation and rainwater harvesting. 

I am writing to urge you to work on codifying the Waters of the U.S. Rule into law - since it is currently an EPA rule that any acting president can change at will. In fact, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are already implementing Executive Order 13778 which directs federal agencies to rescind the Waters of the U.S. that included rivers that don't flow year around. Repealing this rule will have a devastating impact on our water supply. All of our waterways are connected. If we don't protect streams and non-perennial rivers, we aren't protecting the bigger rivers. Tucson, in particular, will be negatively affected by repealing the Waters of the U.S. rule. Arizona's water has already been depleted by a 19 year drought. But repealing the Water of the U.S. Rule will leave Tucson's water supply completely unprotected.

As Pima County Administrator C.H. Huckelberry stated:

Tucsonans rely on both surface water and groundwater derived by infiltration or runoff, as well as Colorado River water. History has shown that pollutants entering dry riverbeds can contaminate our drinking water. Changes in standards for the Clean Water Act would be particularly consequential in Arizona. While other states have the authority to protect the quality of streams not subject to the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction, Arizona does NOT. In Arizona, state legislation forbids state agencies from exceeding the federal regulatory framework. Therefore, any reduction in scope of federal jurisdiction may have the effect of exempting certain areas from water quality protections at the state level. 

EPA data showed that 94 percent of streams in Arizona were protected by the Waters of the U.S. rule. These streams are small but they feed into the Gila and Santa Cruz rivers. If the protections of the Clean Water Act are reduced to perennial waters, the vast majority of Arizona's streams will have no water quality protections at all. Essentially pollution becomes legal unless the state steps in. The state means the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality - which advertises that it sped up the permitting process for businesses and reduced "burdensome" laws and regulations - 48 of them.

The Waters of the US Rule affects most of Tucson’s rivers (because most are not perennial). For example, without the Waters of the US rule, there is little to stop the operators of the Rosemont mine from dumping tailings and other pollutants into Davidson Canyon where they eventually would make their way into Cienega Creek and Tucson’s water supply. This stream provides Tucson with 20% of our ground water.

Senator Sinema, it is vital for the Waters of the U.S. rule to be codified into law to protect Tucson's water supply for now and in the future. Please, do everything you can to make the Waters of the U.S. Rule a law. 

Thank you,
Jana Segal

If you would like to share your thoughts or concerns about legislation or policy you can reach Senator Sinema's Phoenix office by calling 602-598-7327 or email contact@sinema.senate.gov.

Tell Senators to oppose Wheeler for the EPA

This week, President Trump officially nominated Andrew Wheeler to be the Administrator or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Senate Republicans are trying to rush a hearing on his nomination next week even though the federal government, including the EPA, is still shutdown.

As Acting Administrator, Wheeler has already done the bidding of corporate polluters, proposing new rules that allow cars, trucks, power plants, and industrial facilities to emit more pollution and. We can't let Wheeler's nomination coast through, especially when the government is shutdown, and Superfund sites go uncleaned, and our air and water is at risk.

Tell your senators to oppose Andrew Wheeler's nomination to Administrator of the EPA!

What has Wheeler done as Acting Administrator? He gutted the coal ash rule, clean car standards, methane standards, and is putting forward a Dirty Power Plan that the EPA's own analysis says will cause an additional 1,400 deaths each year due to more pollution. 

He is also pushing plans to ruin the lifesaving Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, opening the door to more toxic mercury and particulate matter pollution from coal plants and jeopardizing the health of women and children. Wheeler';s proposal ignores the massive reductions in toxic pollution brought by these standards and the up to 11,000 lives saved and approximately 130,000 asthma attacks avoided per year as a result of this protection.

Furthermore, Wheeler is pushing to redefine which U.S. waterways are covered by the Clean Water Act, putting drinking water for one in three Americans at risk.

Andrew Wheeler is clearly unfit to oversee the agency that was created to protect our air, water, and climate. We must oppose his nomination.

Wheeler shows the same signs of ethical misconduct as Scott Pruitt, disregarding ethics and conflict of interest concerns while meeting with big polluters and pushing their dirty policies at the expense of our health and environment. As if that weren't enough, Wheeler, like his ousted predecessor, Pruitt, has seen his share of scandal. Wheeler has shared and liked racist posts on social media and engaged with right-wing trolls and conspiracy theorists. 

Senate Republicans confirming Andrew Wheeler to lead the EPA is just like putting the Hamburglar in charge of McDonald's, because he will do nothing to protect the health of the public and everything to enrich corporate polluters.

We can't let a coal lobbyist doing the bidding of corporate polluters lead the EPA.Tell your senators to oppose his nomination!

https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/National?actionId=AR0132715&id=7010Z000001qlwKQAQ&data=c6354268c665c3877411dba30438f5e859a716ec550e121d5d9af5f70f027eae0d96cbf4fe24cae443218f87a7686f9b&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sierraclub&utm_campaign=resist

- Melinda Pierce, Sierra Club

My Water Presentation to Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick

Recently, a group of us from Sustainable Tucson's Environmental Advocacy Group met for an educational meeting with Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. Thanks to Ron Barber for setting that up! 

In another blog, I wrote about how that meeting went and the topics that were discussed.  I thought I would go ahead and share my presentation on water issues with you too - because it is so important and timely.  Be assured, I left a copy of my presentation with Rep. Kirkpatrick and her staff!  A special thanks goes out to hydrologist Thomas Meixner for making these issues so easy to understand and present. 

I urge you to contact your Members of Congress to support these proposals too.

First, I went over the importance of the Cienega Watershed in Rep. Kirkpatrick’s district. Then I spoke about codifying the Waters of the U.S. Rule into law, and finally overturning of the 1872 Mining Law that defines hardrock mineral extraction as the “highest and best” use of most public lands.

It is important to preserve the Cienega Watershed because it includes five of the rarest habitat types in the American Southwest:

• Cienegas (marshlands)
• Cottonwood-willow riparian forests
• Sacaton grasslands
• Mesquite bosques
• Semi-desert grasslands

Cienega Creek is one of the few remaining perennial streams in Arizona, providing:

• Critical habitat for wildlife (threatened & endangered species).

• Historically important ranching operations. 

• Important cultural/ archaeological resources.
• An attractive visitor destination, for its scenic landscapes, natural beauty, and cultural heritage.
• Water source for Tucson Metropolitan Area. It provides 20% of Tucson’s ground water.

Challenges: Dewatering of Cienega Creek and wetlands through development, mining, and climate change threatens endangered species. 

Waters of the US Rule

The 2015 Waters of the US Rule extended the Clean Water Act to protect tributaries that feed navigable rivers. All of these waterways are connected. If you aren’t protecting the streams, you aren't protecting the bigger rivers. 

This is the map I used to show how the water flows to Tucson.

The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are implementing Executive Order 13778 which directs federal agencies to rescind the Waters of the U.S. which included rivers that don't flow year around. Tucsonans rely on both surface water and groundwater derived by infiltration or runoff, as well as Colorado River water. History has shown that pollutants entering dry riverbeds can contaminate our drinking water. Changes in standards for the Clean Water Act would be particularly consequential in Arizona. While other states have the authority to protect the quality of streams not subject to the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction, Arizona does NOT. In Arizona, state legislation forbids state agencies from exceeding the federal regulatory framework.  Therefore, any reduction in scope of federal jurisdiction may have the effect of exempting certain areas from water quality protections at the state level.

- From Letter by C.H. Huckelberry.  Pima County Administrator.

EPA data showed that 94 percent of streams in Arizona were protected by the Waters of the U.S. rule.  These streams are small but they feed into the Gila and Santa Cruz rivers. 

If the protections of the Clean Water Act are reduced to perennial waters, the vast majority of Arizona's streams will have no water quality protections at all. Essentially pollution becomes legal unless the state steps in. The state means the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality - which advertises that it sped up the permitting process for businesses and reduced "burdensome" laws and regulations - 48 of them. 

The Waters of the US Rule affects most of Tucson’s rivers (because most are not perennial). For example, without the Waters of the US rule, there is little to stop the operators of the Rosemont mine from dumping tailings and other pollutants into Davidson Canyon where they eventually would make their way into Cienega Creek and Tucson’s water supply. 

The Waters of the U.S. rule needs to be codified into law rather than being an EPA rule that any acting president can change at will. 

Another needed protection is the overturning of the 1872 Mining Law that defines hardrock mineral extraction as the “highest and best” use of most public lands, tying the hands of federal and local governments when U.S. or foreign mining interests want to mine our public lands. 

The federal government treats mining as a right on public lands - one that trumps other uses. That means they allow mining even if it threatens special places such as Grand Canyon or pollutes important water sources such as the Colorado River. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hardrock mining is the number one polluter in the country and has contaminated the headwaters of 40 percent of our western watersheds. It allows mining interests to take hardrock minerals such as copper, gold, silver and uranium from our public lands without paying any royalties to the American taxpayer.  

The 1872 Mining Law, signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, was intended to promote settlement of the West.  Written during a time when mining was done with picks and shovels, the 1872 Mining Law does not address the problems created by modern day techniques which have the ability to remove entire mountains. The law does not address or prohibit environmental damage or threats to wildlife and watersheds. It does not provide for adequate reclamation. 

It is way past time that we reform this antiquated law and adequately protect national treasures - including the Grand Canyon - important watersheds, wildlife, and the other public assets. We need a law that requires agencies to deny approval of a mining operation if it will harm human health, wildlife habitat, water resources, or sensitive lands. It should eliminate patenting of land, provide royalties to the taxpayers, and include strong reclamation standards.

- Sierra Club 

Please, join me in requesting that Rep. Kirkpatrick propose codifying the Waters of the U.S. Rule into law, and overturn the 1872 Mining Law.

Submit a PUBLIC COMMENT: Tell the EPA to reject Trump's disastrous Dirty Water Rule

The "Dirty Water Rule." President Trump's new move to give fossil fuel giants, factory farms, and other industrial polluters the green light to pollute thousands of vital rivers, lakes, and streams with no repercussions.

Trump's EPA just released its disastrous plan to gut the protections of the Clean Water Act that help prevent the pollution of drinking water sources for millions of Americans. It makes no scientific, legal, public health, or fiscal sense.

Tell the EPA to reject Trump's disastrous Dirty Water Rule and protect our swimming and fishing spots and sources of drinking water for millions of Americans. Be one of the 100,000 activists we need to stand strong for clean water protections.

The Clean Water Act was designed to protect lakes, rivers, streams, and other waterways across the country, and hold polluters responsible if they violate its requirements.

Trump's Dirty Water Rule will gut those critical protections, and threaten to contaminate our drinking water supplies and destroy important habitats for aquatic wildlife.

We've already seen enough devastating impacts from pollution and climate change on the nation's water resources as of late: Outbreaks of harmful algae in Lake Erie that contaminated drinking water for thousands in Toledo, Ohio... losses in the Pacific salmon population in the Pacific Northwest... drought in California and across the west... and unprecedented toxic algae blooms in Florida, which have killed millions of fish, and other marine wildlife, and led to a state of emergency in the Sunshine State. Hobbling the Clean Water Act will only add to this list.

And while slashing safeguards for clean water will impact ALL Americans, low-income communities and communities of color could be hit the hardest — exacerbating inequality in communities that are already disproportionately impacted by polluted water.

We must stop this no-holds-barred attack on our clean water. Call on the EPA to reject Trump's dangerous Dirty Water Rule immediately and help us reach our goal of 100,000 official public comments.

The Trump administration has been attacking clean water since Trump came into office, and NRDC has sued to protect it.

You can be sure that we'll continue to fight this outrageous assault on clean water — in and out of court — and any Trump administration attack on our environment and health.

Will you join us today and demand that the EPA protect clean water for all?

- Rhea Suh, President, NRDC

Submit a Public Comment opposing EPA's Do-Nothing Rule

In February, 2016 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled a lawsuit by committing to develop a program to prevent and clean up chemical spills into our nation’s water bodies.

Now EPA has unveiled the details of this hazardous spill prevention program: No program!

This is an issue of environmental injustice, demonstrated by the presence of aboveground storage tanks in communities around the country, often in poor and low income areas.

This is a drinking water issue. We often don’t know where these storage tanks are. If a leak or spill gets into a drinking water source, public health can be at risk, tap water can be disrupted, or we might not even know about it.

This is a Clean Water Act issue. Congress required a rulemaking process in the original Clean Water Act and it has never happened. EPA's argument that existing programs take care of this problem is simply unfounded.

EPA is accepting comments on this idea until August 24. Tell EPA that our drinking water sources, rivers, lakes, and streams need protection from leaking storage tanks and other chemical spills that threaten our health, our water, and wildlife.

- Lynn Thorp, Clean Water Action

EPA is taking comments on their proposal NOT to set up a program to prevent leaks and spills of hazardous substances into water.

Click here to send the following message:

Subject: Re: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2018-0024

Prevent Chemical Spills Into Water and Protect Drinking Water Sources  

I urge EPA to reconsider its decision not to develop safeguards to prevent spills of hazardous substances into rivers, lakes, streams, and other water bodies. The Clean Water Act directs EPA to set up this program. Existing laws and regulations do not ensure that drinking water sources and all of our water are protected. 

Facilities handling hazardous substances should develop comprehensive plans to prevent discharges into water. 

---

More information:

Protecting Drinking Water From Hazardous Spills

Leave a Clean Water Rule Repeal Comment to Protect Drinking Water

In late June, Trump's EPA doubled down on the proposal to repeal the Clean Water Rule. The agency released a "supplemental" to the proposal. Basically, the original proposal to repeal the Clean Water Rule was so thin on science, law, and public support, that the agency wants to try again. But the bottom line, this proposal would still put our water at risk.

There is no justification for putting the drinking water sources for one in three people at risk, which is exactly what repealing the Clean Water Rule will do. It's time that EPA hears from us again. Send a message to EPA below. Tell Trump's EPA that it needs to drop this reckless scheme to repeal protections for streams, wetlands, and drinking water.

- Clean Water Action

To send your own Clean Water Rule Repeal Comment click this link

(Personalize it for more impact.)

Sent to: Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water

RE: Docket ID: EPA-HQ-2017-0203

Acting Administrator Wheeler,

I strongly opposed EPA's proposed repeal of the Clean Water Rule in 2017 and I still do. This latest supplemental proposal does nothing to address the basic issue -- this repeal will put the drinking water sources for one in three Americans at risk. This is unacceptable. Please abandon this supplemental proposal as well as the entire scheme to repeal these vital safeguards. 

Instead, instruct the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately begin implementing the 2015 Clean Water Rule. The streams and wetlands that would be protected are vital to our health and well being, and are important parts of our natural infrastructure. Not only do they feed the drinking water for more than 117 million Americans, they provide habitat for countless species. Communities throughout the nation rely on wetlands to filter groundwater and absorb floodwaters during major storm events. We saw what can happen when we allow wetlands to be paved over in Houston and most recently in Ellicott City, MD.

The Clean Water Rule is based on sound science, consistent with the law, and gets us much closer to the Clean Water Act's goal of ensuring that all waters are swimmable, fishable, and drinkable. Please drop this supplemental proposal and the 2017 repeal proposal. Otherwise you are helping to set back our efforts to protect clean water by decades and putting our water at risk of pollution and destruction. 

Thank you for considering my concerns.

EPA COMMENTS OPEN: Tell them to Prevent Chemical Spills Into Water and Protect Drinking Water Sources

FREEDOM INDUSTRIES W. VIRGINIA RELEASED 10,000 GALLONS OF CHEMICALS INTO DRINKING WATER SUPPLY,  JANUARY 13, 2014

In 2014, hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia faced a crisis. Due to a leak from a chemical storage tank they couldn't use their water for anything other than toilet flushing or firefighting for more than a week. Families were without drinking water, people couldn't shower, businesses had to close.

Environmental justice and environmental organizations sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force the agency to deal with hazardous spills and leaks from aboveground storage tanks. In late 2016, EPA pledged to develop a program to keep drinking water safe and hold companies that leak or spill chemicals accountable.

Fast forward to June 2018. EPA finally told us what the plan was. And the plan was...nothing. Trump's EPA has decided that it won't protect communities from chemical spills because it wrongly asserts that the risks from spills is low and there are other programs that can handle this issue. Both of those claims are false. 

Help us set Trump's EPA straight. Send a message right now demanding that the agency safeguard communities against the spills and leaks of toxic chemicals.

EPA’s analysis dismisses the impact that chemical spills from storage tanks and other facilities can have on people’s health, on drinking water sources, and on communities’ well-being. Other federal programs do not address this problem comprehensively. Relying on other programs that are not designed to address spills, leaks, and other discharges of hazardous substances from industrial facilities will leave low-income communities and communities of color in jeopardy. These communities are often surrounded by these risky facilities and are already disproportionately impacted by pollution from industrial plants, factories, and power plants.

We need robust plans for prevention of chemical spills, and for containing and cleaning up hazardous substance discharges. Otherwise, there will be gaps in protection for drinking water sources, for people’s health, and for water quality that is safe for swimming, other recreation, fishing, and wildlife.

Take Action (click link to send the message below.) 

In February, 2016 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled a lawsuit by committing to develop a program to prevent an clean-up chemical spills into our nation’s water bodies.

Now EPA has unveiled the details of this hazardous spill prevention program: No program!

EPA is accepting comments on this idea until August 24. Help us tell EPA that our drinking water sources, rivers, lakes, and streams from leaking storage tanks and other chemical spills that threaten our health, our water, and wildlife.

Subject: Re: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2018-0024

The Letter: (Feel free to personalize it for more impact.)

Prevent Chemical Spills Into Water and Protect Drinking Water Sources  

I urge EPA to reconsider its decision not to develop safeguards to prevent spills of hazardous substances into rivers, lakes, streams, and other water bodies. The Clean Water Act directs EPA to set up this program. Existing laws and regulations do not ensure that drinking water sources and all of our water are protected. 

Facilities handling hazardous substances should develop comprehensive plans to prevent discharges into water. 

Send a message to Trump's EPA today. Tell the agency that it's time to stop catering to polluters and to start protecting drinking water and communities throughout the country.

- Lynn Thorp, CLEAN WATER ACTION

More information:

Industrial waste pollutes America’s drinking water

SB1493 environmental quality; dredge, fill permits is now on Governor Ducey's desk.

SB1493 environmental quality; dredge, fill permits is now on Governor Ducey's desk. 

Please call Governor Ducey and ask him to veto SB1493. You can reach his office at (602) 542-4331.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is pursuing control of an important Clean Water Act program that helps to protect washes and wetlands. The Sierra Club is concerned that the agency does not have the resources to properly fund and enforce these programs and that there will be inadequate consultation with tribal entities, and inadequate consideration of endangered species and cultural resource protections.

SB1493 environmental quality; dredge, fill permits allows ADEQ to pursue state control of the Clean Water Act dredge and fill permit program that protects wetlands and washes and ultimately our waters. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the state would have a robust public process and it is quite likely the state would try to eliminate any consultation related to endangered species. Further, the state has no comparable National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, so no real evaluation of alternatives would be required.

- Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged and fill materials into waters of the United States, including wetlands.

Scott Pruitt, we have been following your real "accomplishments." Time to RESIGN!

Really!!! Scott Pruitt hung up this list of accomplishments 

The petition to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reads: "American taxpayers will no longer condone your corrupt administration, bankroll your expensive trips or tolerate the dismantling of our environmental protections to help your industry cronies. Resign now." Add your name:

Scott Pruitt has to go. Every day, another news story breaks about Pruitt's corrupt dealings as Trump's anti-environmental EPA administrator. He is ruling the EPA as his own personal fiefdom – taking first-class flights, using government resources for personal gain and giving away favors to his friends. Meanwhile, as Pruitt's ethical violations are making headlines, he is continuing to quietly scrap every rule that stops polluters from destroying our health and environment. Tell Scott Pruitt to resign. Click here to sign the petition. In hardly more than a year on the job, Pruitt has already made a name for himself by: Taking shady favors from lobbyists. Pruitt rented his Washington condo from an energy lobbyist's wife for an outrageously low price, then approved a pipeline project for the lobbyist's client.1 Wasting taxpayer funds on luxury travel. Taxpayers have spent more than $163,000 on Pruitt's first-class flights, charter flights and a ride on a military jet. The EPA even looked into getting him his own private jet.2 Giving giant, unapproved raises to favorite staffers. Pruitt used an obscure law to get around the fact that the White House rejected pay increases for two staff members he brought from Oklahoma. He gave them raises of 33 and 52 percent.3 Using EPA staff for personal errands. Pruitt assigned an EPA staffer to help him find housing during work hours and on the taxpayer's dime.4 Dismantling environmental protections to help out his industry friends. Newly released emails document Pruitt's long history of coziness with industry polluters.5 The biggest scandal of all is Pruitt's willingness to sell out our climate's future and our clean air and water to funnel money back to his corporate cronies. As one news story put it, the "'Most Blatantly Corrupt Trump Official' award is so close Scott Pruitt can taste it."6 New revelations about his ethical violations continue to break as he tears apart the agency he is supposed to lead. Even some congressional Republicans have started calling for Pruitt to step down.7 Enough is enough. Scott Pruitt has to go. Tell Scott Pruitt to resign. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/resign-pruitt?t=7&akid=28029%2E3130208%2ENNfGuT - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Eric Lipton, "Pruitt had a $50-a-day condo linked to lobbyists. Their client’s project got approved." The New York Times, April 2, 2018. Margaret Hartmann, "EPA Mulled Leasing a Private Jet, and Other Scandalous Scott Pruitt Revelations," New York Magazine, April 4, 2018. Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis, "Top Pruitt aide at EPA also shopped for housing on his behalf," Washington Post, April 2, 2018. Ibid. Brady Dennis and Steven Mufson, "Thousands of emails detail EPA head’s close ties to fossil fuel industry," The Washington Post, Feb. 22, 2018. Bess Levin, "Most Blatantly Corrupt Trump Official' award is so close Scott Pruitt can taste it," Vanity Fair, March 30, 2018. Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Josh Dawsey, "EPA’s Scott Pruitt faces intensifying scrutiny, criticism of his ethics decisions," The Washington Post, April 3, 2018. Note from Jana at Desktop Activist Tucson I have posted SO MANY calls to action fighting the devastation that Scott Pruitt is aggressively enacting on our land, water and air. Not to mention our health! His actions to delay implementing (and dismantle) the Clean Power Plan hurt my personal efforts to stop the permit for TEP's 10 RICE gas-fired generators.  It's odd to me that it takes this condo scandal to prove this man is corrupt so we can finally get rid of him. He should be prosecuted with the full strength of the law for his crimes against humanity! More information on Pruitt's "accomplishments" 3 environmental regulations Scott Pruitt has been dismantling amid his scandals Scott Pruitt is slowly strangling the EPA The Ten Worst Things Scott Pruitt’s EPA Has Already Done

Submit a public comment: Stop the Water Polluter Loophole

Scott Pruitt wants to put our drinking water at risk -- again. He wants to create a giant loophole that will let polluters get away with dumping pollution into groundwater that eventually flows into lakes, rivers, and bays.

I wish I was making this up.

Right now we can hold polluters accountable when chemicals or other pollutants they dump in groundwater flow into surface waters through the Clean Water Act. Across the country, fossil fuel companies, petroleum pipeline companies, and coal-burning utilities have been facing liability in courts for polluting water with gasoline, diesel, and heavy metals—and losing case after case. This is the way it should be -- you pollute our water, we hold you accountable.

But these companies don't like this -- so they are asking Scott Pruitt to help them. And, unsurprisingly, he is. He wants to weaken clean water protections by changing EPA's longstanding position that pollution discharged into groundwater that flows into surface water requires a water pollution permit. EPA and states have required permits for this type of pollution for decades.

Tell him not to rollback any more safeguards for clean water.

CLICK HERE to submit a public comment today and tell EPA to immediately withdraw its ridiculous scheme and instead work to protect communities from harmful water pollution. 

*Remember to personalize it a bit - so they don't have the excuse to throw your comment out as a form letter. 

It doesn’t make sense for the Clean Water Act to cover pollution dumped from a pipe into a river, but not pollution that flows through groundwater into that same river. Not only is it illegal for polluters to dump chemicals or other pollutants into groundwater that is connected to a river or stream without a permit, EPA has no authority to create a polluter loophole that does not exist in the language of the Clean Water Act. Congress included no such exemption because in order to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,” all connected waters must be protected from harmful pollution.

Creating a new polluter loophole undermines EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment and would leave a huge gap in water protections, leaving our most valuable resource without protection.

Tell EPA to reject this plan to give polluters a free pass to destroy our water. Take action today!

- Jennifer Peters, National Water Programs Director

More information on Scott Pruitt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DSJv72NXyA