NSSGA Agrees: U.S. Cannot Afford a Broad Federal Expansion of the Clean Water Act
America’s quality of life depends on stone, sand and gravel; for these simple ingredients are the building blocks of the nation’s built environment. There are 100,000 men and women working in more than 10,000 quarries nationwide to produce the aggregate American needs. In years past nearly 3 billion tons of crushed stone, sand and gravel were produced annually to meet the need of our customers across America.
Our industry digs holes. Big holes. When it rains, water will find a way into these holes and our members work hard to manage the water on our property and make use of it so as to be good stewards of the environment, a good neighbor and to meet the needs of our customers. We will construct temporary retention ponds in areas where they would not normally occur to collect rainwater. We recycle from these man-made ponds: we draw water to wet down the property to reduce dust and to wash truck wheels to get rid of pebbles before trucks leave our property and travel on community roads. We also use the water to wash rock so that the cement or asphalt will stick to it better. After all, 80% of concrete and 94% of asphalt is stone, sand and gravel. Unfortunately, the Clean Water Restoration Act would likely make these activities illegal unless we enter into an expensive and time-consuming permitting process.
Some in Congress are considering a radical plan that will expand the power of the Clean Water Act by removing the term ‘navigable’ from the landmark law and redefining federal jurisdiction as “all intrastate and interstate waters and their tributaries.” The key word is all. Unfortunately, this broad expansion of federal jurisdictiondoes not differentiate between a man-made rock-washing pond in the middle of an active quarry and a river or major waterbody that is scientifically beneficial to the environment, helps with flood control, or provides habitat for animals, fish, flora and fauna. Navigable rivers/waterbodies are the business of the federal government rather than state, local or private decision-makers.
Making a man-made rock-washing pond federal jurisdiction is an expensive proposition. In 2002, a study found that an average individual Section 404 permit that our members would need to continue operating costs over $270,000 and takes more than 2 years to obtain.
Simple math – 10,000 operations seeking just one $270,000 permit means the aggregate industry alone is facing a $2.7 billion fee to continue operating and years of delays. And, it is very likely that multiple permits would be necessary to continue operating under the proposed legislation. The only people served by this are the environmental lawyers necessary to fill out the confusing federal forms. Without the federal permits quarry operators could face jail time for washing rock in ponds they built by harnessing the rain.
Where do aggregates go?
Average home requires 400 tons
Average school requires 15,000 tons
One mile of highway requires 38,000 tons
Currently, aggregate operations are permitted by local and state governments and get their social license to operate from the surrounding community. If this legislation becomes law, however, quarry owners will likely be required to get multiple costly federal permits to simply continue operating, adding another layer of regulation on an industry already regulated at the local, state and federal level.
During this time of economic turmoil, the aggregate industry is on track to see a decrease in production of over 20% this year. That is on top of a decrease in production over the last two years. Our companies are struggling to hang onto their employees in hopes that the economy turns around soon. If additional expensive permits are required to continue operating, some quarries may end up shuttering for good. For employees of quarries and their families, the prospects are truly worrisome.
We all want cleaner water for the next generation. Let’s not act so hastily, however, that we inadvertently throw out a good lawand replace it with one that doesn’t differentiate between a man-made rock-washing pond and a navigable waterbody that is of national concern due to how it helps the environment, flood control, or the habitat it provides for animals, fish, flora or fauna.
AF&PA: CWRA Will Impose Costs on Manufacturers with Little Environmental Benefit
Today the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), a member of the Waters Advocacy Coalition, shared their concerns with the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA):
Papermakers are innovators in water quality and long ago many began treating their wastewater via processes that mimic the natural water-cleansing that occurs when water moves through wetlands. Once treated and in compliance with water quality standards this water is returned to the water cycle. However, this successful process could come to a screeching halt under the proposed changes to the Clean Water Act currently being pushed in Congress, the CWRA.
Water treatment processes utilized by the paper industry have become so sophisticated that their discharged water typically has no effect on downstream aquatic life. This was confirmed by a recently-released study by the independent National Council for Air and Stream Improvement which spent a decade examining water quality and aquatic life in four representative streams around the country with discharges from papermaking facilities. The study found that other point sources or naturally-occurring changes often were the cause of any changes that were detected. The results of this peer-reviewed study represent an important milestone for an industry that has worked hard over the past several decades to successfully implement sustainable practices.
Critical to the ongoing successful improvement in water treatment processes by papermakers is the ability to use water treatment ponds that are kept separate from waterways and streams and in which water purification can occur safely without impacting water quality or aquatic life in those waterways. The CWRA would, ironically, subject these separated water treatment ponds to the same high water quality standards as the waterways the treatment ponds are working to protect. In other words, the water in the water treatment system would have to meet water quality standards, which completely negates the purpose of the treatment system itself.
Instead of embracing the existing process as a key component of water quality protection, the legislation recently passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee would expand federal authority rather than actually improving water quality enforcement.
Forest landowners require regulatory certainty for water quality compliance and the CWRA creates ambiguity about which activities require a permit. If all water on private land falls under federal jurisdiction, then normal forestry operations could be greatly encumbered with new regulatory burdens with little or no improvement in the environment. Similarly, requiring permits for ditches, culverts, and log ponds imposes costs on manufacturers with little environmental benefit.
The United States forest products industry is committed to protecting and restoring America’s wetland and water resources and we support constructive measures to achieve these goals. Given the many unintended consequences of this legislation – the possibility of overturning state prerogatives, confusing both the agencies and the regulated community by its broad approach and producing endless litigation – AF&PA does not believe that the CWRA is the solution to achieve these goals.
