The EPA has proposed a new rule to slash Clean Water Act protections for millions of people. In a blatant giveaway to the fossil fuels industry, industrial agriculture, big developers, and other major polluters, the EPA proposes to remove up to 60% of stream miles and up to 80% of wetland acres from federal protections under the Clean Water Act that safeguard drinking water for millions of people.

TAKE ACTION NOW: Use the form on the right to send an email directly to the EPA =>

Clean water is essential for the health and sustainability of our families, communities and environment. Lest we forget -- we all live downstream and pollution knows no boundaries. We have a responsibility, as a nation, to control pollution at its source and protect the drinking water sources of all residents – regardless of where they live. In the Chesapeake region, streams and tributaries in the upper reaches of the Susquehanna, Potomac, Shenandoah, James and many other rivers, as well as a huge number of wetlands, would not receive protections under the Trump administration’s scheme to repeal the Clean Water Rule.

The Clean Water Act gave us the legal framework to clean the nation’s waterways after decades of neglect had turned some of our rivers into flowing dumps of flammable trash, chemicals, and debris by the 1960s. It gives any citizen the right to sue polluters to protect our waterways.

We all need to oppose this repeal of the 2015 Clean Water Rule and the gutting of protections that have prevented reckless pollution of the nation's waterways for decades. Access to safe drinking water is a prerequisite for healthy, thriving communities, where everyone can participate, prosper and reach their full potential. This proposed rule would put water at risk for too many communities by removing protections for streams and wetlands across the nation and in our region.

What you can do:

1. TAKE ACTION NOW: Use this action alert to send an email directly to the EPA (use form on the right).

2. Submit your own comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/. All submissions must include the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0149. Click here for tips on commenting on this rule.

All comments must be received by April 15, 2019

Thank you for taking action. This is the most consequential attack on clean water since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Congress understood then that to protect the waters of this country, we need to protect all of them