Nationally precedent-setting Clean Water Justice Act awaits Governor Moore’s signature
(Silver Spring, MD) In a move to restore justice after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett v EPA decision last year, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Clean Water Justice Act (SB653 / HB1101) sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Augustine and Del. Sara Love. The Supreme Court decision removed Clean Water Act protection for intermittent and ephemeral streams and most wetlands. That decision essentially eliminated the public’s right under the Clean Water Act to bring a lawsuit against polluters of those types of waterways. While Maryland has strong laws protecting wetlands and waterways, the public does not have a right under state law to enforce clean water protections. This bill restores that right under state law, allowing communities harmed by water pollution in these waterways to enforce Maryland’s waterways and wetlands protection laws.
“Maryland has robust protections for waterways and wetlands,” said bill sponsor Delegate Sara Love (District 16, Montgomery County). “However, the Supreme Court’s Sackett v EPA decision stripped federal protection along with community enforcement rights for a majority of Maryland’s streams and wetlands. The Clean Water Justice Act merely reinstates Marylanders’ capacity to protect our waterways from illegal pollution, now under Maryland state law rather than federal law.”
“All communities harmed by pollution should have the right to enforce clean water laws, no matter if their local stream or wetland is protected by federal or state law. A person’s zip code should not determine access to justice,” said Robin Broder, Deputy Director of Waterkeepers Chesapeake. “This is why the Clean Water Justice Act was a priority of all Maryland Waterkeepers along with a broad coalition of water, conservation, and environmental and social justice organizations.”
“The Clean Water Justice Act is focused on the restoration of the public’s enforcement right for the intermittent and ephemeral streams and wetlands that lost federal protection,” said bill sponsor Senator Malcolm Augustine (District 47, Prince George’s County) “In Maryland, we shouldn’t have two classes of waterways and wetlands because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Now, it’s clear that all communities, streams and wetlands are treated equally.”
Over 60% of streams in Maryland lost protection under the Clean Water Act. Wetlands and streams are the lungs and kidneys of our landscape – filtering out pollution, keeping drinking water clean, protecting communities from floods and storm surges, and providing billions of dollars in benefits. These aquatic ecosystems are also among the very most valuable biodiverse habitats. Given the urgent climate and biodiversity crises, states should be doing everything they can to protect these waterways.
“Maryland has been unable to keep up with the water quality violations due to staff shortages and a constantly withering budget, so the citizen suit provision in the federal Clean Water Act, allowing parties harmed by the pollution to enforce the law, has been a critical backstop to protect our waterways and communities from pollution. The Clean Water Justice Act ensures that Marylanders can protect their waterways when the government is unable to do so,” said Betsy Nicholas, V.P. of Programs at Potomac Riverkeeper Network.
A person’s right to enforce the Clean Water Act is a powerful compliance tool and deterrent for law breaking. Public enforcement rights provide a last resort, a measure of deterrence that helps stimulate a culture of compliance, and some supplemental capacity to the State, as the primary enforcement authority. In Maryland, there have been two to three federal suits filed by the public annually, many of which have resulted in noteworthy results. Recent examples include actions to address excessive pollution from sewage treatment plants in Baltimore and a generator of industrial sludge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“On the Eastern Shore where climate change is disproportionately impacting low-lying, frontline communities, non-tidal wetlands and ephemeral and intermittent streams play a significant role in protecting from pollution and downstream flooding. The Clean Water Justice Act makes it certain that communities on the Shore can protect themselves from any destruction or pollution to those waterways,” said Matt Pluta, Choptank Riverkeeper, ShoreRivers
“No Marylander should be deprived of their right to stop illegal water pollution or destruction of our most important ecological habitats. This new law simply restores and reinforces the vision that Congress and the Maryland General Assembly have had for decades about the important role the public plays in protecting itself and our cherished waters from dangerous pollutants,” said Evan Isaacson, Senior Attorney, Chesapeake Legal Alliance.
“We applaud Maryland’s leadership in restoring rights lost at the federal level, and reversing the damage caused by the Sackett v EPA decision. We look forward to Governor Moore’s signature,” said Broder.
More information about Clean Water Justice Act: https://waterkeeperschesapeake.org/clean-water-justice-act/
Contacts:
Robin Broder, 703-786-8172, robin@waterkeeperschesapeake.org
Betsy Nicholas, 202-423-0504, betsy@prknetwork.org
Evan Isaacson, 585-503-5996, evan@chesapeakelegal.org
Matt Pluta, 814-881-2165, mpluta@shorerivers.org
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