WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers has drafted new guidelines under the Clean Water Act, which will see large water bodies capable of supporting boats protected from water pollution. However small streams will not fall under the purview of this act, meaning that wetlands adjoining such streams may very well be compromised.
Environmentalists are enraged at this development and say many small wetlands could be endangered. The new guidelines were frames after the Supreme Court was split evenly last year in what constituted large water bodies that required protection.
Four justices were of the opinion that the law be restricted to large bodies like lakes and rivers, while four others felt the law must be given a broader reach.
John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army clarified on the provisions contained within the new law saying the Army Corps of Engineers was committed to protecting America's aquatic resources as best as they could by following the Supreme Court decision.
"This interagency guidance will enable the agencies to make clear, consistent, and predictable jurisdictional determinations," he added. "The results, once posted on agency Web sites, will document how the scope of the Clean Water Act jurisdiction is being determined."
The guidance also provides that no wetlands would be lost and that active management should ensure that three million acres of wetlands would be restored, enhanced and protected by 2009.
