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Dear NRDC Activist,
It should come as no surprise to hear that during his administration, Donald Trump gave major polluters the green light to pollute thousands of rivers, lakes, and streams with no repercussions.
The "Clean Water Act" is a bedrock law designed to prevent the pollution of drinking water sources for millions of Americans. But Trump implemented what came to be known as the "Dirty Water Rule," which eliminated federal Clean Water Act protections for many water bodies and threatened acres of wetlands and millions of streams — including those that feed the drinking water sources of more than 100 million people — with increased pollution and flooding.
The good news? Thanks to the relentless efforts of our coalition partners, Indigenous tribes, NRDC's legal team and activists like you, two federal courts have invalidated Trump's "Dirty Water Rule."
Now President Biden's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers are proposing a new rule to permanently cancel the Trump rule and restore protections for many of the waterways that millions of us depend on and that the Trump rule left behind.
The Biden administration is inviting the public to comment on its proposal — but only for a short time, so we must hurry: Submit your official public comment in defense of vital clean water protections before the February 7 deadline!
Trump's Dirty Water Rule was a gift to industry. His administration eliminated federal protections for many vital bodies of water. It made no scientific, legal, public health, or fiscal sense, and it undermined the very core of the Clean Water Act, one of our most important, foundational environmental laws.
TRUMP'S DIRTY WATER RULE THREATENED OUR:
- Drinking Water: The rule threatened the drinking water sources of tens of millions of people across the country — all for the sake of polluter profits. This move especially threatened Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities, who have dealt with decades of environmental racism and corporate pollution. [Submit your comment]
- Climate: The Trump rule gutted protections for wetlands, which are critical in fighting climate change by storing carbon in their soil. This giveaway made it easier for polluters to destroy wetlands, exacerbating the climate crisis. [Submit your comment]
- Agriculture: Trump's rule increased the risk of more severe pollution in streams that supply water for farms and livestock and vital wetlands that prevent crop and property damage from flooding. [Submit your comment]
But while EPA's proposal to restore Clean Water Act protections for many waters gutted by Trump is a good first step, the agency must also finish the job and move quickly towards adopting stronger federal clean water protections that protect ALL critical waters across the country.
Submit an official public comment supporting the Biden administration's proposal to immediately restore vital clean water protections — and call on them to further strengthen the Clean Water Act with a new rule that creates strong, long-lasting protections for water resources on which our families and communities depend.
We've fought long and hard to restore the Clean Water Act to its vital purpose of protecting our nation's waterways and public health. Now we need to keep fighting to make it stronger than ever before.
Thank you for fighting for clean water for all.
Sincerely,
Jon Devine
Senior Attorney & Director of Federal Water Policy, NRDC
Docket: EPA-HQ-QW-2021-0602 
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