{"id":39411,"date":"2025-08-25T00:01:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T04:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=39411"},"modified":"2025-08-25T16:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T20:27:15","slug":"legislation-gut-clean-water-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, August 25, 2025) What the Republican-led Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the U.S. House of Representatives calls legislation to \u201cCut Red Tape and Increase Clean Water Act Permitting Efficiency\u201d is being roundly criticized by environmental groups as an attack on the safety of the nation\u2019s waterways. On June 25, the Committee passed the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act<\/em>, H.R. 3898<\/a>, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), which makes sweeping changes to the\u00a0Clean Water Act<\/em><\/a> (CWA) with serious consequences that will undermine water quality, pesticide oversight, and community right-to-know, according to environmental advocates. The PERMIT Act, now moving through Congress, is a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills and poses an extreme threat to clean water protections, thwarting to the goals of CWA<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to Tell your U.S. Representative and Senators to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever since CWA\u00a0became law in 1972 to \u201crestore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,\u201d the definition of the \u201cNation’s waters,\u201d aka \u201cwaters of the U.S.\u201d or \u201cWOTUS,\u201d has been cloaked in\u202fcontroversy.<\/a>\u202fThis controversy is coming to a head again as the\u202fTrump administration<\/a>\u202frevises regulations in which the Biden\u00a0administration<\/a>\u00a0attempted to interpret the Supreme Court’s decision in\u202fSackett v. EPA<\/em><\/a>\u202f(2023) in a way that is consistent with the goals of CWA.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

The declaration of goals and policy in CWA begins:<\/strong>\u202f\u00a0The objective of this Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. In order to achieve this objective it is hereby declared that, consistent with the provisions of this Act\u2014\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(1) it is the national goal that the discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters be eliminated by 1985;\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(2) it is the national goal that wherever attainable, an interim goal of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water be achieved by July 1, 1983;\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(3) it is the national policy that the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts be prohibited; . . .\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Section 502(7) of CWA defines the term \u201cnavigable waters,\u201d which delineates the jurisdiction of CWA regulation to be \u201cwaters of the United States, including the territorial seas,\u201d thus removing the nexus to navigability in earlier law. According to the\u202fCongressional Research Service<\/a>\u202f(CRS), \u201cThe\u202fClean Water Act<\/em>\u202fitself does not expand further on the meaning of ‘waters of the United States.’ Instead, the Corps [Army Corps of Engineers] and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have expounded on this phrase through agency guidance and regulations, which federal courts have struck down on various occasions as failing to satisfy statutory or constitutional requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CRS further explains:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

In debating the 1972 amendments that created the\u202fClean Water Act, some Members of Congress explained that they intended the revised definition to expand the law’s jurisdiction beyond traditionally navigable or interstate waters. The conference report states that the \u201cconferees fully intend that the term ‘navigable waters’ be given the broadest possible constitutional interpretation unencumbered by agency determinations which have been made or may be made for administrative purposes.\u201d And during debate in the House on approving the conference report, one Representative explained that the definition \u201cclearly encompasses all water bodies, including streams and their tributaries, for water quality purposes.\u201d Courts have frequently referred to the act’s legislative history when interpreting its jurisdictional reach, but they have not always agreed on the import of this history.\u202f\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As a result, the jurisdiction of EPA and delegated state and tribal entities to protect water quality has varied according to the politics of the administration in power at the time. There is clearly a need to clarify the scope of CWA protections.\u202fIn the last Congress, H.R. 5983, introduced by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen and 131 co-sponsors, would have provided the needed clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Science also has a role to play. Bodies of surface water do not exist as independent entities. Intermittent streams flow into rivers and lakes. Ponds, ditches, and wetlands may feed lakes and streams either\u202fdirectly<\/a>\u202for\u202fthrough groundwater<\/a>. Contaminants of intermittent or ephemeral water bodies can affect wildlife dependent on them, as well as the waters to which they are connected. The toxic soup in many U.S. waterways is unsustainable and threatens the foundation of many food chains. Imbalances in aquatic environments\u202fcan ripple throughout the food web, creating trophic cascades<\/a>\u202fthat further exacerbate health and environmental damage.\u202fStudies of major rivers and streams<\/a>\u202ffind that 90% of fish, 100% of surface water samples, and 41% of major aquifers contain one or more pesticides at detectable levels. Almost 90% of water samples contained at least five or more different pesticides. Furthermore, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports at least 143 pesticides and 21 pesticide transformation\/breakdown products (metabolites) in the groundwater of over 43 states.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Promoted as a way to “streamline” permits for industry and development, the PERMIT Act weakens critical clean water protections, by:\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Cutting protections for streams and wetlands.<\/strong>\u00a0The bill redefines which waters are protected, removing safeguards for many small streams, wetlands, and seasonal (ephemeral) waterways, allowing them to be polluted, filled in, or destroyed with no consequences. It would codify the Supreme Court’s decision in\u202fSackett v. EPA<\/em><\/a>\u202f(2023) in a way that is inconsistent with the goals of CWA.\u202f\u00a0<\/li>\n
  2. Allowing political appointees to exclude waters.<\/strong> Top officials at EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers could exclude any waters they choose from protection, without public input, science, or oversight.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  3. Prioritizing cost savings for polluters over science-based water quality standards.<\/strong> Contrary to the spirit of the CWA, EPA would have to consider cost to polluters, rather than relying on science to set water quality standards. Unsafe pollution could be labeled “safe” just because cleanup is expensive.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  4. Discouraging advancements in reducing wastewater pollution, resulting in outdated standards.<\/strong> The bill limits EPA’s ability to require regular updates to water pollution control standards based on advancements in technology. \u202fThe requirement to use best available technologies would be replaced by reliance solely on only those treatment technologies already widely used in the US.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  5. Removing State and Tribal Power.<\/strong> The bill narrows states’ and tribes’ authority to consider the broader impacts of an entire project on local water quality, forcing them to make decisions based solely on specific permit discharges. It strips away the power of states and tribes to review big federal projects like pipelines or dams, rejecting them or adding conditions that protect local water, leaving decisions to federal agencies with less voice to people living in impacted communities.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  6. Increasing the Use of Outdated Pollution Standards.<\/strong> Extending the permit duration from 5 to 10 years, eliminating the opportunity to apply improved science and technology, and allowing polluters to continue using outdated pollution limits and treatment standards, while reducing opportunities to provide public input.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  7. Protecting polluters instead of the environment by: <\/strong>Authorizing sweeping “general” pollution permits with fewer safeguards, and exempting pesticide spraying, fire suppression chemicals, and agricultural runoff from permitting and accountability. Eliminating responsibility for failure to report harmful pollutants in discharges, opening the door for dangerous chemicals like mercury or PFAS (“forever chemicals”) to end up in water with no consequences.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  8. Exempting pesticide discharges from CWA permits if the product is registered under FIFRA. <\/strong>This removes the only mechanism for site-specific protections, monitoring, and public notice of pesticide pollution.\u202fBy removing CWA permit requirements for pesticides, it legalizes pollution without accountability, eliminates public notice and comment, and strips communities of recourse when their water is at risk.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Letter to U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators:
    \n<\/u>H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act\u201d makes sweeping changes to the\u00a0Clean Water Act<\/em>\u00a0(CWA), with serious consequences for water quality, health and environmental protection, and community right-to-know.<\/p>\n

    The PERMIT Act (H.R. 3898) is a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills and poses an extreme threat to clean water protections, in contradiction to the CWA\u2019s goals and objectives. Promoted as a way to “streamline” permits for industry and development, the bill weakens critical clean water protections by:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Cutting protections for streams and wetlands. The bill redefines which waters are protected, removing safeguards for many small streams, wetlands, and seasonal (ephemeral) waterways, allowing them to be polluted, filled in, or destroyed with no consequences. It would codify the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in\u202fSackett v. EPA<\/em>\u202f(2023) in a way that is inconsistent with the goals of CWA.\u202f<\/li>\n
    2. Allowing political appointees to exclude waters. Top officials at EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers could exclude any waters they choose from protection, without public input, science, or oversight.<\/li>\n
    3. Prioritizing cost savings for polluters over science-based water quality standards. Contrary to the spirit of the CWA, EPA would have to consider cost to polluters, rather than relying on science to set water quality standards. Unsafe pollution could be labeled “safe” just because cleanup is expensive.<\/li>\n
    4. Discouraging advancements in reducing wastewater pollution, resulting in outdated standards. The bill limits EPA\u2019s ability to require regular updates to water pollution control standards based on advancements in technology. \u202fThe requirement to use best available technologies would be replaced by reliance solely on only those treatment technologies already widely used in the US.<\/li>\n
    5. Removing State and Tribal Power. The bill narrows states\u2019 and tribes\u2019 authority to consider the broader impacts of an entire project on local water quality, forcing them to make decisions based solely on specific permit discharges. It strips away the power of states and tribes to review big federal projects like pipelines or dams, rejecting them or adding conditions that protect local water, leaving decisions to federal agencies with less voice to people living in impacted communities.<\/li>\n
    6. Increasing the Use of Outdated Pollution Standards. Extending the permit duration from 5 to 10 years, eliminating the opportunity to apply improved science and technology, and allowing polluters to continue using outdated pollution limits and treatment standards, while reducing opportunities to provide public input.<\/li>\n
    7. Protecting polluters instead of the environment by: Authorizing sweeping “general” pollution permits with fewer safeguards, and exempting pesticide spraying, fire suppression chemicals, and agricultural runoff from permitting and accountability. Eliminating responsibility for failure to report harmful pollutants in discharges, opening the door for dangerous chemicals like mercury or PFAS (“forever chemicals”) to end up in water with no consequences.<\/li>\n
    8. Exempting pesticide discharges from CWA permits if the product is registered under FIFRA. This removes the only mechanism for site-specific protections, monitoring, and public notice of pesticide pollution.\u202fBy removing CWA permit requirements for pesticides, it legalizes pollution without accountability, eliminates public notice and comment, and strips communities of recourse when their water is at risk.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Please oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Thank you.<\/p>\n

      All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      (Beyond Pesticides, August 25, 2025) What the Republican-led Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the U.S. House of Representatives calls legislation to \u201cCut Red Tape and Increase Clean Water Act Permitting Efficiency\u201d is being roundly criticized by environmental groups as an attack on the safety of the nation\u2019s waterways. On June 25, the Committee passed the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act, H.R. 3898, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), which makes sweeping changes to the\u00a0Clean Water Act (CWA) with serious consequences that will undermine water quality, pesticide oversight, and community right-to-know, according to environmental advocates. The PERMIT Act, now moving through Congress, is a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills and poses an extreme threat to clean water protections, thwarting to the goals of CWA.\u00a0\u00a0 Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to Tell your U.S. Representative and Senators to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d Ever since CWA\u00a0became law in 1972 to \u201crestore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,\u201d the definition of the \u201cNation’s waters,\u201d aka \u201cwaters of the U.S.\u201d or \u201cWOTUS,\u201d has been cloaked in\u202fcontroversy.\u202fThis controversy is coming to a head again as the\u202fTrump administration\u202frevises regulations in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1775,574,363,518,503,581,19,276,1,12,324],"tags":[680,2276,1113,669,784,692,986,893,2279,2159,2277,1176,2280,1777,2281,2282,1082,786,716,2278,852,684,2158],"class_list":["post-39411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clean-water-act","category-congress","category-federal-agencies","category-groundwater","category-indigenous-people","category-native-americans","category-statelocal","category-take-action","category-uncategorized","category-water","category-water-regulation","tag-clean-water-act","tag-committee-on-transportation-and-infrastructure","tag-community","tag-congress","tag-fifra","tag-groundwater","tag-indigenous-peoples","tag-local-community","tag-nations-waters","tag-navigable-waters","tag-permit-act","tag-pesticide-regulation","tag-right-to-know","tag-sackett","tag-sackett-v-epa","tag-standards","tag-states","tag-take-action","tag-water-contamination","tag-water-quality","tag-waterways","tag-wetlands","tag-wotus"],"yoast_head":"\nLegislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to urge Congress to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills that poses an extreme threat to clean water protections under the Clean Water Act.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to urge Congress to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills that poses an extreme threat to clean water protections under the Clean Water Act.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-25T04:01:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-25T20:27:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\"},\"headline\":\"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-25T04:01:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-25T20:27:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\"},\"wordCount\":1794,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Clean Water Act\",\"Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure\",\"community\",\"Congress\",\"FIFRA\",\"groundwater\",\"Indigenous Peoples\",\"local community\",\"nation's waters\",\"navigable waters\",\"Permit Act\",\"pesticide regulation\",\"right to know\",\"Sackett\",\"Sackett v EPA\",\"standards\",\"States\",\"take action\",\"water contamination\",\"water quality\",\"waterways\",\"wetlands\",\"WOTUS\"],\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"Clean Water Act\",\"1\":\"Congress\",\"2\":\"Federal Agencies\",\"3\":\"Groundwater\",\"4\":\"Indigenous People\",\"5\":\"Native Americans\",\"6\":\"State\/Local\",\"7\":\"Take Action\",\"9\":\"Water\",\"10\":\"Water Regulation\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\",\"name\":\"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-25T04:01:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-25T20:27:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to urge Congress to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills that poses an extreme threat to clean water protections under the Clean Water Act.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"description\":\"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2501,\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"description\":\"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to urge Congress to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills that poses an extreme threat to clean water protections under the Clean Water Act.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","og_description":"Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to urge Congress to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills that poses an extreme threat to clean water protections under the Clean Water Act.","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2025-08-25T04:01:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-25T20:27:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts","datePublished":"2025-08-25T04:01:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-25T20:27:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/"},"wordCount":1794,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg","keywords":["Clean Water Act","Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure","community","Congress","FIFRA","groundwater","Indigenous Peoples","local community","nation's waters","navigable waters","Permit Act","pesticide regulation","right to know","Sackett","Sackett v EPA","standards","States","take action","water contamination","water quality","waterways","wetlands","WOTUS"],"articleSection":{"0":"Clean Water Act","1":"Congress","2":"Federal Agencies","3":"Groundwater","4":"Indigenous People","5":"Native Americans","6":"State\/Local","7":"Take Action","9":"Water","10":"Water Regulation"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/","name":"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-25T04:01:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-25T20:27:15+00:00","description":"Beyond Pesticides is calling on the public to urge Congress to oppose H.R. 3898, the \u201cPERMIT Act.\u201d a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills that poses an extreme threat to clean water protections under the Clean Water Act.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/waterway.marsh_.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/08\/legislation-gut-clean-water-act\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legislation Will Gut the Clean Water Act, Thwarting Decades of Safety Efforts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization","name":"Beyond Pesticides","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2501,"caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4","name":"Beyond Pesticides","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"description":"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/"],"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39411"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39424,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39411\/revisions\/39424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}