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Conservation Partners |
February 17, 2000 Letter sent to all members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation I am writing on behalf of the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts to express our concern and ask for your help in opposing the new rules that the EPA proposed last August regarding the Clean Water Act, specifically section 303(d) dealing with Total Maximum Daily Loads and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Under the new rules, most forest activities will be considered a potential point source of pollution, the same as a factory or sewage treatment plant. Since the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, forestry has been considered a non-point source of pollution and generally exempt from permitting requirements. If the new rules are adopted, EPA may require private landowners to obtain federal permits before harvesting, burning planting, fertilizing, controlling weeds, or fixing roads if they are within the runoff area of a listed stream or river. Depending on how the new rules are interpreted by government officials, this could trigger additional red tape and federal requirements for millions of private landowners across the country. It would certainly open them to frivolous lawsuits by extreme environmental groups under the Clean Water Act and possibly the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws. Simply put, the new rules are an unnecessary and unfair invasion of private property rights. They do not make sense because most landowners are already committed to clean water through state-approved Best Management Practices (BMPs). By EPA’s own admission, forest activities account for only 3 to 9 percent of all nonpoint source pollution to the Nation’s waters. Because of extensive logger training and landowner outreach programs started under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) in 1995, BMP awareness and compliance are at an all-time high and on an upward trend. This will ensure that our nation’s forests continue to protect and improve water quality for today’s and tomorrow’s Americans. The proposed EPA rules are just not necessary and certainly not worth the cost and pain to landowners and others who enjoy the forest. Besides the impact on private landowners, the new rules will put at risk millions of jobs that depend on the forest products industry. Increased costs caused by permitting restrictions and frivolous environmental lawsuits will hurt manufacturing operations, thereby endangering American jobs to foreign competition not required to compete on a level playing field. Indeed, the PACE Union (Paper Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers) and PPRC (Pulp and Paper Workers Resource Council) recently expressed its strong disapproval of the new rules and potential impact on local jobs. The EPA plans to sidestep congressional intent, reverse almost 30 years of history, and issue a final rule this spring. On behalf of the Conservation Districts of Arkansas, I urge you to contact EPA Administrator Carol Browner and express your opposition to the agency’s heavy-handed proposal for new water quality regulations. Let Administrator Browner and your colleagues know that this proposal is not acceptable. If EPA does not relent, we are counting on you to use the power of Congress to protect us. Forestry is not a "point" source of water pollution, and private landowners do not deserve to be burdened with federal permits. Furthermore, we do not want our local jobs (more than 47,500 in Arkansas alone) to lose out to foreign competition because of unnecessary and extreme environmental regulations. Thank you for your support and leadership on this crucial issue. Sincerely, Johnny G. Belew
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