RE: VOTE NO on dirty water amendments to appropriations legislation that undermine the Clean Water Act

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1 Alabama Rivers Alliance Alliance for the Great Lakes American Rivers America s WETLAND Foundation American Whitewater Anacostia Watershed Society Apalachicola Riverkeeper Arkansas Canoe Club Arkansas Wildlife Federation Audubon Connecticut Blue Green Alliance Blue Heron Environmental Network, Inc. Buckeye All-State Chapter Izaak Walton League of America Citizens Campaign for the Environment Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Clean Water Action Clean Water for North Carolina Committee on the Middle Fork Vermilion River Conservancy of Southwest Florida Earthjustice Endangered Habitats League Environment America Environmental Defense Fund Environment Maryland Farmington River Watershed Association Florida Wildlife Federation Friends of Dyke Marsh Friends of the Rappahannock Friends of the River Friends of the Santa Clara River Freshwater Future Georges River Tidewater Association Gulf Restoration Network Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition Kentucky Resources Council, Inc. Kentucky Waterways Alliance Labadie Environmental Organization Lackawanna River Corridor Association Lake Champlain Committee Lake Erie Waterkeeper Inc. League of Conservation Voters Levees.org Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Maryland Academy of Science Maryland Sierra Club Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance Michigan Environmental Council Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy Minnesota Conservation Federation National Audubon Society Nature Abounds Natural Resources Defense Council NC Conservation Network New Jersey Audubon New York-New Jersey Harbor Coalition Northwest Environmental Advocates Ohio Environmental Council Ohio League of Conservation Voters Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Ohio Wetlands Association Olympic Forest Coalition PennFuture Physicians for Social Responsibility Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes Rivers Alliance of Connecticut Rock Creek Conservancy Russian Riverkeeper Save Our Sky Blue Waters Shaker Lakes Garden Club Sierra Club South Dakota Wildlife Federation Southern Environmental Law Center South Fork Trinity Up-River Friends Spokane Riverkeeper Tennessee Clean Water Network The River Project Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council Virginia Chapter Sierra Club Wastewater Education Western Nebraska Resources Council Western Organization of Resource Councils Western Reserve Chapter Izaak Walton League of America West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Wisconsin Wildlife Federation June 23, 2014 RE: VOTE NO on dirty water amendments to appropriations legislation that undermine the Clean Water Act Dear Senator: Our organizations and our millions of members and supporters urge you to oppose all dirty water amendments and riders proposed for inclusion in appropriations legislation for fiscal year Clean water has consistently ranked as a top environmental concern for Americans in Gallup polls since The science is clear that what happens upstream, in small streams and wetlands, impacts the quality and health of downstream tributaries and larger rivers. These waters

2 contribute to our drinking water supplies, support recreation and the businesses that depend upon it, and reduce flooding. We urge you to stand strong for clean water and oppose amendments that undermine the Clean Water Act in appropriations legislation for fiscal year For almost thirty years, the Clean Water Act was interpreted to provide comprehensive protections for water bodies across the country, from the smallest headwater streams to the Mississippi River. Following two Supreme Court decisions, protections for small streams and wetlands were put into question, leaving nearly 2 million stream miles (excluding Alaska) that contribute to the drinking water supplies of 117 million Americans vulnerable to pollution and degradation. The proposed Clean Water Rule is an important step towards clarifying protections for waters that contribute to our drinking water supplies, protect us from flooding, and support recreation and economic activity. Right now, the status quo of uncertainty surrounding what waters are and are not covered under the Clean Water Act works for polluters. Declining enforcement and increasing uncertainty over what waters are protected has become business as usual. For example, more than 1,500 major pollution investigations under the Clean Water Act of spills of bacteria, chemicals, and other pollutants into waters were discontinued between 2006 and We strongly oppose legislation that would block efforts to restore long-standing protections under the Clean Water Act. We urge you to stand strong for clean water and to oppose all dirty water amendments to appropriations legislation for fiscal year Sincerely, Cindy Lowry Alabama Rivers Alliance Birmingham, AL Joel Brammeier and CEO Alliance for the Great Lakes Chicago, IL Stacey Detwiler Associate Director, Clean Water Supply American Rivers Val Marmillion Managing Director America s WETLAND Foundation New Orleans, LA

3 Kevin Colburn National Stewardship Director American Whitewater Dan Smith Director of Policy and Advocacy Anacostia Watershed Society Bladensburg, MD Dan Tonsmeire Apalachicola Riverkeeper Apalachicola, FL Debbie Doss Conservation Chair Arkansas Canoe Club Little Rock, AR Ellen McNulty 1st Vice Arkansas Wildlife Federation Pine Bluff, AR Sandy Breslin Director of Governmental Affairs Audubon Connecticut Southbury, CT Rob McCulloch Director of Infrastructure Programs Blue Green Alliance Sherry Evasic Blue Heron Environmental Network, Inc. Hedgesville, WV Jim Storer Buckeye All-State Chapter Izaak Walton League of America Brian P. Smith Associate Citizens Campaign for the Environment Buffalo, NY 14223

4 Carin High Vice Chair Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge San Francisco, CA Jennifer Peters National Water Campaigns Coordinator Clean Water Action Katie Hicks Assistant Director Clean Water for North Carolina Asheville, NC Clark Bullard Director Committee on the Middle Fork Vermilion River Urbana IL Jennifer Hecker Director of Natural Resource Policy Conservancy of Southwest Florida Naples, FL Chris Espinosa Legislative Representative Earthjustice Dan Silver, Endangered Habitats League Los Angeles, CA Ally Fields Clean Water Advocate Environment America James Tripp Senior Counsel Environmental Defense Fund Joanna Diamond Director Environment Maryland Baltimore, MD Eileen Fielding

5 Farmington River Watershed Association Simsbury CT Manley Fuller Florida Wildlife Federation Tallahassee, FL Glenda Booth Friends of Dyke Marsh Alexandria, VA Eric Wesselman Friends of the River Sacramento, CA Bryan Hofmann Programs Manager Friends of the Rappahannock Fredericksburg, VA Ron Bottorff Chairman Friends of the Santa Clara River Newbury Park, CA Jill M. Ryan Freshwater Future Petoskey, MI Vivian Newman Georges River Tidewater Association Thomaston Maine Cynthia Sarthou Gulf Restoration Network New Orleans, LA Gary Wager Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition

6 Kalamazoo, MI Tom FitzGerald Director Kentucky Resources Council, Inc. Frankfort, Kentucky Judy Petersen Kentucky Waterways Alliance Louisville, KY Patricia Schuba, Labadie Environmental Organization (LEO) Labadie, MO Bernie McGurl Lackawanna River Corridor Association Scranton, PA Lori Fisher Lake Champlain Committee Burlington, VT Sandy Bihn Lake Erie Waterkeeper Inc. Oregon, OH Tiernan Sittenfeld Senior Vice of Government Affairs League of Conservation Voters Sandy Rosenthal Founder and Levees.org Michael Helfrich Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Stewards of the Lower Susquehanna, Inc. Wrightsville, PA Van Reiner and CEO

7 Maryland Science Center Maryland Academy of Science Baltimore, MD Claudia Friedetzky Chapter Conservation Representative Maryland Sierra Club College Park, MD Douglas E. Adams Chief Operating Officer Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance New York-New Jersey Harbor Coalition New York, NY James Clift Policy Director Michigan Environmental Council Lansing, MI Scott Strand The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy St. Paul, MN Gary Botzek Minnesota Conservation Federation Saint Paul, MN Brian Moore Legislative Director National Audubon Society Melinda Hughes-Wert Nature Abounds DuBois, PA Jon Devine Senior Attorney, Water Program Natural Resources Defense Council Brian Buzby NC Conservation Network

8 Raleigh, NC Kelly Mooij, Esq. Vice, Government Relations New Jersey Audubon Bernardsville, NJ Nina Bell, J.D. Northwest Environmental Advocates Portland, OR Kristy Meyer Ohio Environmental Council Columbus, OH Don Hollister Ohio League of Conservation Voters Gahanna, Ohio Vivian Stockman Media Outreach and Communications Specialist Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Huntington, West Virginia Ray Stewart Ohio Wetlands Association Amherst, OH Connie Gallant Olympic Forest Coalition Quilcene, WA Jennifer Quinn PennFuture Central PA Outreach Coordinator Choose Clean Water Coalition State Lead Harrisburg, PA Catherine Thomasson, MD Physicians for Social Responsibility

9 Irene Senn Coordinator Religious Coalition for the Great Lakes Margaret Miner Rivers Alliance of Connecticut Litchfield, CT Katherine Schinasi Board Member and Program Chair Rock Creek Conservancy Bethesda, MD Don McEnhill Russian Riverkeeper Healdsburg, CA Thomas Wolfe Vice Savage River Watershed Association Frostburg, MD Lori Andresen Board Save Our Sky Blue Waters Duluth, Minnesota Dalal Aboulhosn Senior Washington Representative Sierra Club Martha Rogers Marsh, Shaker Lakes Garden Club, Zone X Willoughby, OH Chris Hesla South Dakota Wildlife Federation SDWF Camo-Coalition Pierre, SD Navis A. Bermudez Deputy Legislative Director Southern Environmental Law Center

10 Karen Wilson South Fork Trinity Up-River Friends California Rick Eichstaedt Spokane Riverkeeper Spokane, WA Dana Wright Water Policy Director Tennessee Clean Water Network Knoxville, TN Melanie Winter Director The River Project Los Angeles, CA Jennifer McKay Policy Specialist Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council Petoskey, Michigan Dendra Best Wastewater Education Traverse City, MI David Bernard Water Quality Chair Virginia Chapter Sierra Club Richmond, VA Norm Cimon, Board Chair Western Organization of Resource Councils Billings, MT Buffalo Bruce Staff Ecologist Western Nebraska Resources Council Nebraska Jim Storer

11 Western Reserve Chapter Izaak Walton League of America Cynthia D. Ellis West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Red House, WV George Meyer Wisconsin Wildlife Federation Columbus, WI