Dear Senator:

I am writing in strong opposition to S. 2417, the so-called "Water Pollution Program Enhancements Act of 2000." Unfortunately, this bill is anything but an enhancement – it is an attack on a key component of the Clean Water Act, the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. I ask you to oppose this bill and any other legislation that would undermine efforts aimed at expeditiously cleaning up the nation’s polluted waters.

The main force motivating this bill appears to be to block new TMDL regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August 1999. But the real effect of the bill is to undermine the Clean Water Act’s existing TMDL program -- a program that has been a part of the Act since 1972. The likely result if the bill passes is more delay before states are required to clean up our most polluted waters. This is simply unacceptable.

Today, over 20,000 individual river segments, lakes, and estuaries across the country are polluted. These polluted waters include approximately 300,000 miles of rivers and shoreline and approximately five million acres of lakes. These waters are not safe for fishing, swimming, boating, as habitat, as drinking water sources, or for other basic uses.

Fortunately, the Clean Water Act includes a program to clean up polluted waters still impaired after implementation of the Act’s other pollution controls, the TMDL program. For many years, states and EPA largely ignored this critical program. In recent years, lawsuits brought by environmental and conservation groups have begun to bring the TMDL program into effect to identify and restore impaired waters. As a result of the new attention to TMDLs, the program has come under attack by special interest industry groups. S. 2417 is part of this attack on the Clean Water Act.

While provisions of this bill authorizing more money for state pollution control programs and requiring scientific studies might seem like good ideas on the surface, the effect of S. 2417 will be to delay the clean up of our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Major problems with the bill include:

* Findings that incorrectly state or imply that there is not enough evidence to identify impaired waters or set TMDLs, or that there are other state water pollution control programs that can achieve water quality standards without TMDLs.

* "Pilot programs" that threaten further delay in setting and achieving pollution reduction goals and undermine Congress’ vision of a national clean-up program.

* An unnecessary National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study on the TMDL program that could further delay action to clean up polluted waters.

* An authorization for additional funding, but no accountability mechanisms to assure that water quality standards will be achieved with this funding even if it is appropriated.

The TMDL program is a common sense, locally managed approach to cleaning up our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. The EPA only steps in when the states fail to do the job, as required by the Clean Water Act. The program needs to be implemented, not undermined or subjected to further delays. Isn't 28 years since the Clean Water Act already too long to wait for clean and safe waters?

By concluding that there is not adequate data or enough money to implement the TMDL program, or that there is some other "functional equivalent" to the approach Congress adopted 28 years ago, S. 2417 would allow states to argue that Congress intends that they keep putting off their legal duty to establish TMDLs for polluted waters.

Rather than create more excuses for delay and weaken the Clean Water Act, Congress should provide adequate resources to states to implement this critical program and should encourage states to move more quickly to establish TMDLs to restore polluted rivers, streams, lakes and coastal areas. Please oppose S. 2417.

Sincerely,

{Your Name & Address}