Clean Water At Risk: Raising the Alarm to Stop the PERMIT ACT

A dangerous bill moving through Congress threatens the Great Lakes and clean water nationwide, here's what people are saying in the Midwest.

By Matt Ohloff, Policy Advocate

Congress is back in session this month and is expected to move forward a dangerous bill that would undermine the Clean Water Act and make it easier to pollute the Great Lakes and waterways across the country. ELPC is working with partners to get the word out and encouraging constituents to contact their lawmakers to vote against the PERMIT Act. Here are some resources to understand what’s in the bill, why it concerns us in the Midwest, and how you can take action to protect clean water.

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What’s In The Bill?

The PERMIT Act (H.R. 3898) weakens core protections in the Clean Water Act, one of our most important environmental laws. If passed, this bill would give industry permission to pollute lakes, rivers, and streams we depend on for drinking water, fishing, and recreation with toxic chemicals like PFAS and pesticides. The PERMIT Act would:

Take away the rights of states and communities to defend their own waterways
Let industry pollute more, with less oversight and less accountability
Erode the science-based standards that safeguard public health and wildlife
Give federal agencies unfettered discretion to remove rivers and lakes from longstanding Clean Water Act protections
Undermine protections for the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to over 40 million people

Earlier this summer, ELPC Senior Attorney Nancy Stoner wrote a blog about the first House hearing on the PERMIT Act, noting that Americans across the political spectrum consider water a top environmental concern. Over 80% of voters support the idea of safe and affordable water as a human right. However, lately Republicans have abandoned the bipartisan consensus around clean water. During the House hearing, Michigan Representative Hillary Scholten said “today, we are considering a hyper-partisan piece of legislation that will exacerbate the already disastrous actions that have worked to erode the Clean Water Act set in place following the Sackett v. EPA decision.”

“This Bill Would Make Iowa’s Water Problems Much Worse”

The PERMIT Act has real-world impacts on us right here in the Midwest. In ELPC’s Iowa office, our team has been working with local communities to raise the alarm about how the PERMIT Act would exacerbate ongoing water issues across the state. Iowa has some of the worst nitrate pollution in the nation, and several segments of polluted rivers (Cedar, Des Moines, Iowa, Raccoon, and South Skunk rivers) were just removed from the national “impaired” list, making it harder to implement cleanup. Everyone needs safe clean water to drink and healthy places to swim and play, so we need the tools to protect every drop. Here’s what Iowans are saying:

“…The bill essentially takes a hacksaw to the Clean Water Act passed in 1972… This means pesticides could be discharged into Iowa rivers without Clean Water Act permits. Same for polluters who dump forever chemicals into the water we end up drinking. The Army Corps of Engineers could remove wetlands or other waterways from protection for any reason. And if we wanted to clean any of this up, it’s on us taxpayers to foot the bill.” – Barb Kalbach, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement column in the Indianola Independent Advocate

“Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, would like to run for governor so he should be sensitive to one of the most compelling issues in Iowa, our deteriorating water quality… Voting against the PERMIT Act is not a vote against production agriculture, it is a vote against big corporations and big government eroding your property rights while actively endorsing water pollution.” – Art Cullen Editorial, Storm Lake Times Pilot

“We should urge Hinson and others to oppose the bill. But more importantly, we need to make sure our delegation understands we know what they’re doing. And we will be holding them accountable. We have some of the dirtiest surface water in the nation… We live on the banks of an endless river impaired by greed, pollution and lies. It truly is our golden age.” – Todd Dorman Editorial, Cedar Rapids Gazette

Additional Coverage

WeAreIowa 5 News: Iowa Environmental Advocates Say PERMIT Act Would Harm Iowa’s Water Quality
NewsRadio 1040 WHO: Iowa Environmental Groups Oppose Bill to Weaken Clean Water Act
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa Groups Tell Congressional Delegation Bill Would ‘Gut’ Clean Water Act
Des Moines Register Op-ed: This Bill in Congress would Make Iowa’s Water Problems Much Worse

Take Action

Despite overwhelming public support for clean water protections, this bill advanced through committee earlier this summer without accepting a single amendment to reduce its harm. It could be up for a full House vote at any time after Labor Day. It may be a very close vote, so every vote counts!

TAKE ACTION NOW

Matt Ohloff,

Policy Advocate

Matt Ohloff is a policy advocate at ELPC's Des Moines, IA office, focusing on programs and policies that promote sustainability, combat climate change through clean energy, and advancing clean water and other natural resources.