ACTION ALERT! Congress Wants to Use the PERMIT Act to Gut the Clean Water Act. Don’t Let Them.
- Diane Rosenberg
- 15 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The PERMIT Act (H.R. 3898), dubbed the “Permission to Pollute” Act, is a set of 15 dangerous bills that would gut many key Clean Water Act protections, drastically weakening this landmark legislation passed over 50 years ago. The US House of Representatives Committee on Rules will consider the bill, introduced in August by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), starting the week of December 9.
If passed, the PERMIT Act would reduce industry regulations designed to keep pollutants out of rivers, streams, and lakes. Drinking and recreational waters are at risk of pesticide, PFAS, and other toxic chemical contamination.
Designed to streamline the permitting process, the PERMIT Act is supported by a diverse group of construction and home building, agribusiness, transportation, manufacturing, and mining associations along with the US Chamber of Commerce.
Environmental and clean water organizations oppose the PERMIT Act and with good reason.
If passed, the PERMIT Act would:
Reduce protections for streams and wetlands by redefining which waters are protected, threatening many small streams, wetlands and seasonal waterways.
Allow top officials at the EPA or Army Corps of Engineers to exclude any waterway from protections without public input or oversight.
Limit Clean Water Act Permits (called National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or NPDES permits) to controlling and cleaning up pollution only at the permitted site, not downstream where pollutants can run off.
Increase the acreage when requiring a General Permit No. 2. These permits are issued for construction sites of any kind and are designed to prevent sediment from running off into streams. Currently, General Permit No. 2’s are required when an acre or more of land is disturbed. Some small CAFOs and all large CAFOs break more than an acre during the construction process. Increasing the acreage may exempt confinements from this permit.
Require the EPA to base pollution control and remediation technology recommendations on how much it would cost polluters to implement the technology rather than on science-based water quality standards.
Fast track projects without proper oversight, eliminating state and tribe rights to review, prohibit or require more stringent conditions for harmful federal projects. Public participation would be reduced, and decisions left to federal agencies, not impacted communities.
Place the financial and public health burden of increased pollution on communities
Limit the EPA from regularly updating water control standards with new or state-of-the-art pollution control and remediation technologies. Only current technologies widely use would be allowed. (Note – the purpose of the Clean Water Act is to fully eliminate water pollution by adopting increasingly effective water pollution technologies as they are developed.)
Double the length of time an NPDES permit is granted from 5 to 10 years regardless of whether new, scientifically proven technologies are developed within that timeframe. Outdated pollution limits and treatment standards would continue during the extended length of the permit.
Exempt pesticide spraying, fire suppression chemicals, and agricultural runoff from NPDES permitting and accountability.
Provide immunity for polluters even if they are aware of and don’t report harmful pollutants in their wastewater.
Allow dangerous chemicals like pesticides, PFAS and mercury to contaminate waterways with no consequences to polluters.
Establish sweeping “general” pollution permits with fewer protections.
The PERMIT Act would be a financial bonanza for industries looking to skirt or streamline the permitting process at a draconian cost to water quality, public health, and community rights. Iowa doesn’t need more polluted water. It needs laws that better protect this public natural resource.
Congress should be looking for ways to strengthen the Clean Water Act, not weaken it. Clean water is a human right.
Thank you for taking action to stop this harmful bill.