Clean Water Network CWRA Factsheet
Since Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, we have made great progress in cleaning up our nation’s waters, but that progress is in jeopardy today. The law historically has protected the nation’s lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands from unregulated pollution and destruction. Today, however, many water bodies are being denied the Act’s protections against pollution. Polluters argue that Supreme Court decisions from 2001 and 2006 mean that the law’s safeguards are only available for “navigable” water bodies (or for waters that are significantly linked to such water bodies). They claim the Act no longer protects numerous wetlands, streams, rivers, lakes and other waters that historically had been covered. The Clean Water Restoration Act is needed to restore the longstanding protections originally intended by Congress.
