Governor Schweitzer Steps Back on Support For Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Bill

Governor Schweitzer Steps Back on Support For Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Bill

This from inside the EPA…

WHITEFISH, MT — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) is turning back on his support for legislation to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), saying he has major concerns that even a narrowed version of the bill pushed by home-state Sen. Max Baucus (D), one of the bill’s key sponsors, may extend the “long arm of the federal government” too far.
“I’m a big proponent of clean water . . . but we’ve had our belly full of Washington, D.C. coming to Montana and telling us they know better,” Schweitzer said in an interview, “we recognize that it is the locals in Montana that have been protecting these water resources over the course of the last 100 years.”
Environmentalists have cited Schweitzer’s past support of the legislation to bolster their efforts to pass the bill. But his shift on the legislation could indicate the changing political climate as Democrats lose support in rural areas. It could also undermine Baucus’ support for the bill if it ever reaches the Senate floor.
The legislation, S. 787, aims to clarify the scope of the CWA in the wake of two Supreme Court rulings that critics say have stymied EPA and the Corps’ ability to protect waters. In 2001 in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) v. Army Corps of Engineers the high court limited the basis for asserting jurisdiction over solely intrastate waters; in 2006 in Rapanos v. United States the court set two competing standards for determining jurisdiction.
But Democrats struggled to pass the bill as introduced. Baucus and other lawmakers from farm states scaled back the bill before passing it out of the environment committee in a party-line vote last June. GOP senators, however, say they will block the bill from being considered on the floor and other Democrats say it will have to be further narrowed.
Its prospects may also be limited as EPA says it is now considering seeking an NAS study to speed its jurisdictional determinations (see related story).
Schweitzer says he has major concerns about the compromise bill negotiated by Baucus, but praises Baucus for working to put some “common sense” into the bill. Schweitzer says he has lobbied Baucus to ensure the bill is narrowed further on the Senate floor.
The Montana governor’s views on the bill are a significant departure from his past support of the legislation. In 2007 Schweitzer testified before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in support of a bill that was significantly broader than the Baucus compromise he now says extends the reach of the CWA too far.
The 2007 version of the bill was “the best way to ensure that all of the water resources in Montana remain fully protected, reaffirm Congress’ intent to eliminate pollution at its source and restore clarity and certainty to the law we and most other states rely on to limit water pollution,” he said in his testimony.
Schweitzer says now “I testified in Washington, D.C. and I told them that we don’t need the long arm of the federal government to tell us how to keep our clean water in Montana. If you’d like to help us we’ll take your help. I recognize there were some problems with it, and we were making some proposals to make it better.”