Political Quotes

“This amendment prohibits the use of funds to take retaliatory actions against States that fall short of their EPA- mandated pollutant reduction goals. Importantly, this amendment would not prevent the EPA from working with States to restore the Chesapeake Bay. For context, in 1985, the States in the Chesapeake Bay region recognized the need to address pollutants in the bay, and through their own initiative, came together to conduct clean-up efforts. These State- driven efforts were largely successful. Water quality improved almost 50 percent from 1985 until 2010. However, in 2010, the EPA seized the States' authority to determine their own method of compliance and threatened to take over the water quality plans if the States failed to comply. States are not inferior agents to the Federal Government. States are not servants to the Federal Government. This 2010 power grab, known as the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, directly contradicts the intent of the Clean Water Act, directly contradicts it. The Clean Water Act clearly acknowledges State authority in water quality and requires cooperation, not coercion, between the States and the Federal Government. Now, these coercive methods have been tried and have failed. Water quality has not improved since the federalization of bay clean-up efforts.…”