New rules limiting clean water protections ignore stream science

Sections of the Little Colorado River in northern Arizona are ephemeral, flowing most frequently during the spring to accommodate snowmelt runoff or during the summer monsoon season. In this view, the river is at flood stage, with water cascading over the falls. Dale Nations/Flickr CC What happens to part of a river network affects all of … Read more

Trump administration continues to threaten drinking water safety

Girl & water fountain

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is committed to repealing and replacing the Clean Water Rule with a weaker standard that would ultimately hurt the health of our waterways and our families.    “Trump’s EPA and their Republican allies in Congress are attacking the safeguards that keep our water clean.” FRED TANNEAU/AFP/Getty Images   From our colleagues at … Read more

Pruitt’s Strategic Plan for EPA – and Why It Matters

  The Trump/Pruitt team has released its roadmap for EPA. What is strategic planning? A systematic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them. Strategic plans create a framework for accountability between the Agency, Congress and the American people. … Read more

Pruitt’s Hypocritical Visit to the Gold King Mine

EPA chief Scott Pruitt, U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

Scott Pruitt came to Colorado on August 4th to visit the Gold King Mine.  His companions, Senators Cory Gardner & Michael Bennet, Representative Scott Tipton, and Governor John Hickenlooper,  held a town hall in Durango following their visit to the mine. Pruitt skipped out. There were folks outside the town hall who wanted to ask … Read more

Defending Bristol Bay

Braided waterways and wetlands create rich salmon spawning grounds

Withdrawal of Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay, Alaska (Pebble Mine)  Comment by October 17 The Trump Administration is proposing to reverse restrictions on discharge of mining wastes in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, the largest sockeye salmon spawning area in the world.  The proposal was published July 19, 2017. The public comment period is … Read more

The CLEAN WATER RULE – Why “Navigability” Matters

History of the Clean Water Act Cuyahoga River – then and now In 1969 the Cuyahoga River in Ohio burst into flames.  Time magazine’s photos of the burning river noted that it was so saturated with sewage and industrial waste that it “oozes rather than flows.”  A record number of fish kills were also recorded … Read more

Clean Water Rule (WOTUS) Comment Period Open

Stream showing low water and high water mark.

Comment by August 28 The Trump Administration wants to remove Clean Water Act protections from two million miles of waterways and millions of acres of wetlands. Rollback of this rule would put drinking water at risk for 117 million Americans.  The public comment period is ongoing; comments must be received on or before 11:59 pm … Read more

Save EPA has been an all-volunteer group of former EPA officials who became alarmed about the Trump agenda for EPA and joined together to fight it.

With newly-elected President-Elect Biden and VP-Elect Harris coming in January, the need to "save EPA" is much less urgent. This is not to imply all clear skies ahead - there is much re-building to do, there will be negative pressures on the new administration, and we will likely have policy differences in the future. However, we are hopeful that these differences will be discussed rationally, using science as a basis for moving forward, and keeping EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment in the forefront.

And so, we are going back to retirement!  We're keeping our website up at http://saveepaalums.info/ , as a resource for those who want to follow and influence the restoration work. Our report on the Trump record at EPA describes the actions that need to be reversed [saveepaalums.info/Trump+era+report], and our guide to participating in the rulemaking process [http://saveepaalums.info/Resistance+Guide] can help you be part of the solution.

Thank you for your support and commitment during the past 3.5 years.  While the Trump assaults were unending, they were also frequently unsuccessful, and that was due in large part to public outrage.  Keep it up!  Although EPA will be in much better hands with a Biden administration, there is always a need for an informed and engaged public.

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