Environment Groups Praise Senate Panel For New Clean Water Bill

Environmentalists praised Senate lawmakers on Thursday for approving legislation that more clearly defines which bodies of water are subject to federal regulation. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted, 12 to 7, to approve legislation sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., that would amend the federal law - Clean Water Act of 1972 - by replacing the term "navigable waters" with "waters of the United States," among other changes. This bill "is a careful balance of restoring and only restoring critical protections for the nations' waters that were in place prior to the Supreme Court intervention in 2001," said Jan Goldman-Carter, of the Wetlands and Water Resources Counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. Additionally, Jon Devine, attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council's water program, said the council is grateful that the Senate committee has addressed concerns about below-par clean water protection. Ducks Unlimited, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited and Izaak Walton League of American were among other groups that expressed enthusiasm about passage of the legislation...DowJones