National Water & Conservation Alliance Says Grassroots Approach to Water Quality is Better, Faster, Cheaper
A new organization established to seek alternatives to the proposed Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) will organize at the county level in order to help head off a massive federal land and water grab, according to founders and co-chairs Don Parmeter of St. Paul, Minnesota and Kathy McDonald of Vancouver, Washington. The National Water & Conservation Alliance (NWCA), established as a Political Action Committee in March, has been lobbying aggressively to help defeat a bill that would dramatically expand federal control over all waters and related lands in the U.S. It is being widely viewed as perhaps the biggest federal power grab in American history.
The legislation would amend the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act by replacing the term 'Navigable' with 'Waters of the U.S,' which would include wetlands, mudflats, sandflats, prairie potholes, playa lakes, ponds, meadows and sloughs. The bill would also expand federal control over land use activities that affect these waters.
Parmeter and McDonald say that empowering people and communities at the local level will lead to more common-sense and less expensive solutions to water quality and other environmental problems. "We do not need more power and control concentrated in Washington, D.C.," said Parmeter. "It's time to trust local people and start governing from the bottom up, instead of from the top down." According to McDonald, it's important to start focusing on our local communities across the country. "Giving the federal government the kind of control recommended in this bill would be a major barrier to that effort." she said. "This bill is not about clean water, it's about top-down power and control," she added.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) has strongly opposed the legislation and reinforced that opposition at their recent annual conference in Nashville. Don Munks is a retired County Commissioner from Mount Vernon, Washington. As Chairman of NACo’s Water Quality Subcommittee, Munks was a leader of the organization's policy on the proposed legislation. He testified at an 11-hour Congressional hearing on the bill last year. "Expansion of federal authority under the Clean Water Restoration Act will create a cumbersome permitting process, resulting in unnecessary and costly delays," said Munks. "It should be obvious that County Commissioners and their constituents are strong advocates of clean water," Munks added. "But as first responders, we must retain the ability to address and resolve water quality problems in a timely and efficient manner," he concluded.
Parmeter and McDonald say that focusing on counties makes sense since, with the exception of Massachusetts (where counties were dissolved), everything is within a county boundary (all land, water, people and communities), and everything is within a watershed. They say that efforts to resolve environmental problems by local people, County Commissioners, and other local officials have proven successful and popular in various parts of the country.
John Vogel of Duluth, Minnesota is a retired County Land Commissioner, and was a District Ranger with the U.S. Forest Service during the intense political battles over the Boundary Waters Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. Later, as St. Louis County Land Commissioner, Vogel was responsible for managing almost a million acres of natural resources. He stated "If made into law, this legislation and subsequent rules to follow, would empower federal bureaucrats to reach into the homes and property of every citizen, urban as well as rural, ignoring the complexities and unique differences of regions and people.
"Decisions will be made in sterile environments and carried out by fiat in distant places and not by those who know and love the lands and waters on which their lives depend," Vogel said. "There's a better way, and everyone benefits," he added. "Knowledgeable, caring and committed local citizens and elected officials are already in place and can play a meaningful role in solutions, with technical help from the private sector and state and federal agency personnel," he added.
Vogel worked with Parmeter on a joint powers initiative that replaced a federal wild and scenic river proposal in the 1990's. The program was approved with policy and financial support from the Minnesota Legislature. "There's no reason why this non-partisan approach can't work on a watershed level," Vogel concluded.
In addition to local elected officials, the CWRA has been opposed by virtually every sector of the American economy including agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing, home building, and small business. According to Parmeter and McDonald, the legislation is being driven by the multi-billion dollar environmental lobby in order to overturn two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions (SWANCC--2001 and Rapanos--2006) that ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and US. Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded their authority under the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
The major proponent of the legislation is Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, Chairman of the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has sole jurisdiction of the issue in the House of Representatives. Despite having 175 co-sponsors for the legislation last year, Oberstar failed to get the bill approved by his own committee because of concerns expressed by some members of his own party. After attempts to get the bill approved without a hearing, Oberstar ultimately conceded, and held a hearing in April of last year. Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold authored a companion bill in the Senate, and California Senator Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, held a hearing in January of last year. The hearing lasted less than half an hour.
Senator Feingold reintroduced similar legislation this year (S 787). A slightly modified bill, known as the Baucus-Klobuchar Substitute, was approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee in June without a hearing. The bill is named after Montana Senator Max Baucus and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar. Ironically, water rights have been considered sacred in both Montana and Minnesota. The Montana Legislature recently approved a strongly worded resolution in opposition to the CWRA. And in Minnesota, water rights have been supported in statute by the legislature, and by key Democratic Party leaders, including former Speaker of the House Irv Anderson and former Attorney General Mike Hatch.
Oberstar is expected to reintroduce a bill after the August Congressional recess. He recently received a green light to move forward from high level officials of the Obama Administration including the Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chairman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality.
Chuck Cushman, founder and executive director of the American Land Rights Association (ALRA), based in Battle Ground, Washington, said this legislation has more broad-based opposition than any other issue his organization has been involved with in his 35 years as a grassroots activist "People at the grassroots level, regardless of their political persuasion, don't want this kind of federal control over their lives and their communities," said Cushman. "Citizens do not want the Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers in their back yard," he added. He said his organization has sent out more than 2 million e-mails and faxes on the issue so far.
Parmeter and McDonald said that the key to a solution on this issue is a viable, grassroots effort that will allow people and local officials to empower themselves. They say that this can be done through formal and informal arrangements among counties and other local units of government, and can be applied virtually anywhere in the country. They emphasize that federal authority and federal legislation is not necessary or appropriate to make this happen. "I think most people are tired of Washington D.C. solutions to problems," said McDonald. "It's time for a community-based approach," she added. Parmeter said "The Ivory Tower approach doesn't work. The best solutions come from people who live in or visit an area and are familiar with the natural resources of that area."
The Alliance plans to lead a lobbying effort in Washington, D.C. next month, with a news conference tentatively scheduled for September 16th.
