The Biggest Fight for Clean Water this Nation has Ever Seen
Why CBF Started the Biggest Fight | The Elements of the Biggest Fight
The Biggest Fight is an aggressive combination of education, grassroots activism, and—where necessary—litigation, designed to hold our government accountable for clean, healthy water throughout the Chesapeake Bay region.
Specifically, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority for ensuring our waters are “fishable and swimmable.” It’s EPA’s job to force the states to take action and to step in and say no when they don’t. By all accounts – even EPA’s – the Agency has failed.
So, we’re taking off the gloves because clean water is a right, not a luxury. And a lot of individuals and partner organizations are with us.
Why CBF Started the Biggest Fight
The first 20 words of the 1972 Clean Water Act are straightforward and completely impossible to misinterpret: “The objective of this Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”
Thirty-seven years later, bodies of water across the U.S. are so polluted that huge areas are unable to support aquatic life, human health is at risk, and our economy is hurt. The Chesapeake Bay, one of the most polluted water bodies, is on the EPA’s “dirty waters” list.
Since the Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council pledged to accelerate clean-up efforts of the Bay more than 15 years ago, residents of the Chesapeake Bay area have been waiting to see improvements in the Bay’s health. You have taken up shovels to create hundreds of miles of new stream buffers. You have grown hundreds of thousands of oysters. You have written and spoke to your legislators and local officials, urging them to make decisions that are good for the Bay.
In the words of Twisted Sister, “We’re not gonna take it anymore.”
Join the Biggest Fight—become a member of CBF's Action Network today.
Elements of The Biggest Fight
- A precedent-setting lawsuit against EPA. CBF sued the EPA in 2009 for not fully using their authority to enforce compliance with the Clean Water Act and for failing to make progress to toward the 2010 goals of reducing nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution to the Bay. In September 2009, CBF put a hold on the lawsuit after President Obama issued an Executive Order in May 2009 calling the Chesapeake Bay a national treasure and acknowledging the federal government's role in restoring the Bay's health. The EPA is required to develop programs that will enhance the water quality of the Bay and enforce the Clean Water Act.
- Advocating for a strong, enforceable, pollution limit for the Bay called a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Under the Clean Water Act, EPA is required to establish a TMDL, or "pollution diet" for the Bay watershed, that will specify the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution the watershed can handle and still be healthy. CBF has argued that to have "reasonable assurance" of achieving these pollution reductions, particularly from nonpoint sources, states need to submit detailed clean up plans to EPA with timelines and pollution reduction milestones and EPA needs to invoke consequences if states fail to make sufficient progress. The TMDL is expected to be finished by December 31, 2010.
- Strengthening of Section 117 of the CWA. The Chesapeake Bay Program is authorized under this section of the Clean Water Act. CBF is actively working on legislation, The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009 (HR 3852/S 1816) that will amend Section 117 to include the Bay-wide TMDL pollution caps and ensure the six states of the Bay watershed and the District of Columbia develop and implement detailed plans to achieve the necessary nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution reductions by 2025. The legislation also includes funding for state and local governments to help cover the costs of implementation.
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