At the meeting on July 20 in Tangent the board passed this important resolution to be sent to the American Agri-Women convention in November, which means at this point that we in Oregon Women for Agriculture can write our US delegates as OWA members to get this bill stopped. THIS IS IMPORTANT—if this passes, the federal government will have the authority to control ALL our water and ALL activities affecting our water, (which could be ANYTHING WE DO), pre-empting state and local government authority over land and water use decisions and possibly requiring permits for anything we do, such as pesticide application or even plowing. The hearings on HR 2421 in the House Committee on Transportation are supposed to be next week, so contact your own House delegates AND members of the transportation committee on Monday or ASAP. (Members of the Transportation Committee are on the bottom of this page.)

It will still be important to contact your Congressmen and Senators if it gets out of committee and goes through the House and to the Senate.

This is our resolution:

OWA Resolution being sent to AAW:

HR 2421, the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007

Whereas HR 2421, the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 would delete the term “navigable” from the Clean Water Act and replace it with a new legislative definition of “waters of the United States” and all “activities affecting these waters,” and

Whereas HR 2421 would grant the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Corps of Engineers for the first time ever jurisdiction over all “intrastate waters”—essentially all wet areas within a state, including ground water, ditches, pipes, streets, municipal storm drains and gutters, and more; and

Whereas HR 2421 would grant the (EPA) and the Corps for the first time ever authority over “all activities affecting these waters” (private or public), regardless of whether the activity is occurring in water or whether the activity actually adds a pollutant to the water;

Therefore be it resolved that American Agri-Women oppose expansion of the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act as proposed in HR 2421, The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007.

Below is a document with talking points.
REASONS TO OPPOSE THE “CLEAN WATER RESTORATION ACT OF 2007,” H.R. 2421

Members of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
110th Congress
Majority (2165 RHOB) - (202) 225-4472
Minority (2163 RHOB) - (202) 225-9446

James L. Oberstar, Minnesota, Chairman

Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia
Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon
Jerry F. Costello, Illinois
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia
Jerrold Nadler, New York
Corrine Brown, Florida
Bob Filner, California
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas
Gene Taylor, Mississippi
Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland
Ellen O. Tauscher, California
Leonard L. Boswell, Iowa
Tim Holden, Pennsylvania
Brian Baird, Washington
Rick Larsen, Washington
Michael E. Capuano, Massachusetts
Julia Carson, Indiana
Timothy H. Bishop, New York
Michael H. Michaud, Maine
Brian Higgins, New York
Russ Carnahan, Missouri
John T. Salazar, Colorado
Grace F. Napolitano, California
Daniel Lipinski, Illinois
Doris O. Matsui, California
Nick Lampson, Texas
Zachary T. Space, Ohio
Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii
Bruce L. Braley, Iowa
Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania
Timothy J. Walz, Minnesota
Heath Shuler, North Carolina
Michael A. Arcuri, New York
Harry E. Mitchell, Arizona
Christopher P. Carney, Pennsylvania
John J. Hall, New York
Steve Kagen, Wisconsin
Steve Cohen, Tennessee
Jerry McNerney, California
Vacancy

John L. Mica, Florida, Ranking Republican Member
Don Young, Alaska
Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin
Howard Coble, North Carolina
John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee
Wayne T. Gilchrest, Maryland
Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan
Steven C. LaTourette, Ohio
Richard H. Baker, Louisiana
Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey
Jerry Moran, Kansas
Gary G. Miller, California
Robin Hayes, North Carolina
Henry E. Brown Jr., South Carolina
Timothy V. Johnson, Illinois
Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania
Sam Graves, Missouri
Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
John Boozman, Arkansas
Jim Gerlach, Pennsylvania
Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida
Charles W. Dent, Pennsylvania
Ted Poe, Texas
David G. Reichert, Washington
Connie Mack, Florida
John R. “Randy” Kuhl Jr., New York
Lynn A. Westmoreland, Georgia
Charles W. Boustany Jr., Louisiana
Jean Schmidt, Ohio
Candice S. Miller, Michigan
Thelma D. Drake, Virginia
Mary Fallin, Oklahoma
Vern Buchanan, Florida