August 31, 2021

Chairs DeFazio and Napolitano Statements on Federal Judge Overturning Trump-era Dirty Water Rule

Washington, DC - Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA) released the following statements after a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona overturned the Trump-era Navigable Waters Protection Rule, more commonly known as the “Dirty Water Rule.”

“This ruling is a major win for the millions of Americans that rely on clean rivers, streams, and other waterbodies for their drinking water and to protect their communities from the impacts of extreme weather events,” Chair DeFazio said. “Water is a basic human right; yet the Trump-era ‘Dirty Water Rule’ removed Clean Water Act protections from up to 71 percent of our streams and more than 50 percent of our wetlands. I have pushed for the repeal of this unconscionable rule since it was first issued, and I will keep working closely with the Biden administration to ensure that its new rulemaking is consensus-driven, science-based, and consistent with the goals of the Clean Water Act.”

“This is another repudiation of the Trump ‘Dirty Water Rule’ which allowed for contamination of our nation’s waters and let polluters pass the buck for clean up costs onto the American taxpayer,” Chair Napolitano said. “We look forward to working with the Biden administration to reaffirm the protections of the Clean Water Act, which has been the most successful law over the past five decades at protecting and improving our lakes, rivers, streams and seas. Most of the West gets its water supply from these precious resources, and American families should not have to worry about their water being polluted by the Trump ‘Dirty Water Rule.’”

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