Washington, DC – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers released their final Waters of the United States rule, which will enable the agency to better protect public waterways and drinking water from pollution. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the Ranking Member on the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, issued the statement below praising the rule:
“This final rule makes clear that the claims from its opponents – that it would impose federal regulations on mud puddles and every ditch – are flat-out wrong. The truth is that downstream states like Rhode Island and many others need this rule to protect us from pollutants discharged in upstream states. This rule provides commonsense guidelines to protect the public from exposure to harmful toxins and pollutants, and helps meet our basic obligations to assure clean water for American families.”
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