Landmark
Legislation Introduced to Improve America’s Waters
by
Mary Jane Williamson
December 16, 2005—Alexandria, VA—The American
Sportfishing Association (ASA) applauds the landmark legislation introduced
by Chairman John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) of the House Water Resources
and Environment Subcommittee to address America’s growing infrastructure
funding crisis. The Clean Water Trust Act of 2005 (H.R. 4560)
will provide $7.35 billion annually to improve America’s waters.
The Clean Water Trust Act will:
- help urban and rural communities protect public health and the
environment by restoring the federal-state-local financial partnership
necessary to achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act;
- create a dedicated, deficit-neutral Clean Water Trust Fund, similar
to those that successfully finance highways and airports;
- address the U.S. EPA’s estimated clean water funding gap
$300-500 billion; and
- guarantee that over 30 years of water quality progress under the
Clean Water Act is continued
“The Chairman has demonstrated his clear commitment to the health
of the nation’s fishery resources and the nation’s treasured
waterways by introducing this bill,” said Gordon C. Robertson, ASA’s
vice president. “For years, the American Sportfishing Association and
the nation’s other leading recreational fishing and marine conservation
organizations have sought language to further reduce non-point source pollution
and improve upon the success of the original Clean Water Act.” Robertson
further said, “Chairman Duncan, by introducing this legislation, has
made a serious commitment to an innovative and practical approach to improving
water quality which has a direct impact on healthy fish populations for the
nation’s 44 million anglers.”
The Clean Water Trust Act will enhance fisheries through controlling sewer
overflows, improving wetlands, encouraging research, spurring new technologies,
enhancing investment in small and rural utilities and protecting critical
regional waters such as the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico.
Supporters of the legislation include: American Sportfishing Association,
Associated General Contractors of America, National Association of
Towns and Townships, Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Ducks
Unlimited, Western Coalition of Arid States, American Society of Civil Engineers,
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, American Council of Engineering
Companies, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Trout Unlimited, American
Concrete Pressure Pipe Association, Design Build Institute of America, Construction
Management Association of America, American Supply Association, Plastics
Pipe Institute, Underground Contractors Association, the International
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the National Association of
Clean Water Agencies.
There is an aggressive grassroots campaign, via a new Web site dedicated
to supporting H.R. 4560, and a renewed federal investment in clean
water called Clean Water America (www.cleanwateramerica.org).
Over one hundred organizations and thousands of individuals from coast-to-coast
have already joined Clean Water America and have signed the Clean Water
America petition calling for a significant new federal investment in
clean water.
The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s
trade association, uniting more than 650 members of the sportfishing
and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal
land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler
advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association
safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic and conservation
values of sportfishing.
