ALCC requests your help with a key vote this week on a bill and issue we’ve been watching for months – WOTUS/S. 1140. It’s a Senate bill that would require EPA to withdraw its Clean Water Act rule. The rule would have a profound and significant impact on the industry’s ability to protect public and private property near water from harmful pests, as well as our ability to install plants and other landscape features. The rule creates a great deal of confusion and potential liability for lawn care and landscape professionals about whether or not permits are needed when working on landscapes with 

certain water features.

[Read about the EPA WOTUS rule and the various court proceedings.]

Please contact both Senate offices and ask them to support S. 1140. Contact Senator Gardner (202-225-5941) and Senator Bennet (202-224-5852) You can also contact Senators Bennet and Gardner via Twitter: @SenBennetCO and @SenCoryGardner.

Follow ALCC on Twitter at @COGreenNOW for sample tweets and breaking news regarding this and other legislation. 

The National Association of Landscape Professionals has issued the following call-to-action (see below) in support of S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act. 

Senate Poised to Vote on WOTUS Legislation – Your Help is Needed

Issue Update:
This week the Senate plans to vote on S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act. This legislation would require the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to immediately withdraw the "Waters of the U.S." rule, complete economic analyses, and adhere to a certain set of principles when introducing a new rule. If the bill does not get the 60 votes required to cut off a filibuster, the Senate is expected to then take up S.J.Res 22, Senator Ernst’s (R-IA) Congressional Review Act resolution to disapprove the WOTUS/Clean Water rule.

Requested Action: 

Please send a letter to your Senators through our Legislative Action Center urging them to vote for S. 1140. Please also call your Senators and ask them to vote for the bill. You can reach your Senators through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121. Once connected your Senator’s office, please ask to speak to the person who handles water policy issues and express support for the legislation. You can also ask your Senators to vote for S. 1140 via social media. You can find the Twitter address for your Senators here. Also, don’t forget to use #landscapeadvocacy.

Some Suggested Talking Points: 

• Please vote for the bipartisan Federal Clean Water Protection Act, S. 1140. The final Clean Water Rule would have a profound and significant impact of professionals to protect public and private property near water from harmful pests, as well as their ability to install plants and other landscape features. 
• The rule creates a great deal of confusion and potential liability for lawn care and landscape professionals about whether or not permits are needed when working on landscapes with certain water features.

Background:
S. 1140 was introduced April 30, by a bipartisan group of Senators including Senator Inhofe (R-OK), Senator McConnell (R-KY) Senator Blunt (R-MO), Senator Barrasso (R-WY), Senator Roberts (R-KS), Senator Capito (R-WV), Senator Fischer (R-NE), Senator Sullivan (R-AK), Senator Donnelly (D-IN), Senator Heitkamp (D-ND), Senator Manchin (D-WV), and Senator Rounds (S-SD). Similar legislation, the “Regulatory Integrity Protection Act” (H.R. 1732) passed the House in May. NALP is also following the various legal actions related to the regulation. The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit recently issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that prevents EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) from implementing the rule while the court reviews the various legal matters raised in the litigation. A decision on some of those legal issues is expected in early December.

Previously on the LAB:
Clean water rule injunction extended nationwide
What is a WOTUS?