Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 961 - Clean Water Amendments of 1995

(House Rules) AND HOUSE 5/10/95
(Shuster (R) PA and 31 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 961, because it threatens to undermine achievements in cleaning up the Nation's waters and would significantly delay progress in addressing remaining water pollution problems.

The Administration also strongly opposes requiring compensation to property owners for actions taken by Federal agencies to protect wetlands. This goes far beyond the constitutional standard for just compensation and would impose a substantial burden on the American taxpayer.

For these reasons, if H.R. 961 were presented to the President in its current form, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Attorney General would recommend that the bill be vetoed.

Among its most objectionable provisions, H.R. 961 would:

— Reduce water Quality protection. The Administration supports pollution prevention and flexible, tailored, cost- effective approaches to meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act (CWA). H.R. 961, however, would undermine the strong standards that have produced significant water quality improvements in the last twenty years. H.R. 961 would allow polluters to circumvent national industrial performance standards through case-by-case negotiations with States over vaguely-defined pollution prevention alternatives. The bill would also undercut the existing CWA commitment to fishable and swimmable waters by allowing new ways to avoid or waive water quality standards. These provisions could create incentives for polluters to pressure States into offering environmental concessions. Under the water quality program in H.R. 961, lower standards in an upstream State would mean higher costs to achieve clean water in downstream States.

— Eliminate fundamental wetlands protections. Wetlands are critical to our Nation's water supply by functioning as natural filters which improve water quality and mitigate potentially disastrous flooding. Moreover, wetlands provide a critically needed habitat for a wide variety of species. H.R. 961 would redefine wetlands which could remove over half of the Nation's wetlands (including parts of the Everglades) from existing protections. Moreover, the bill's definition and classification scheme are scientifically flawed and would undercut protection of even those wetlands that remain covered by the new scaled-back program. The President's August, 1993 Wetlands Policy identifies a number of specific administrative and legislative reforms to the wetlands program. In addition, the Administration has taken further steps to streamline the program to meet the concerns of small landowners. The Administration is willing to work with the Congress on separate legislation that would improve the program while maintaining wetlands protection.

— Create Enormous New Costs. The Administration strongly supports private property rights, and is continuing to implement regulatory reforms that will provide relief to property owners. The so-called "takings" provisions in this bill, however, would dramatically increase costs to the taxpayers of protecting our vital wetlands.

— Fail to address effectively non-point source pollution (NPSP). Nonpoint source pollution (NPSP) is the major water quality problem currently facing the nation. It is caused by the runoff of pesticides, toxics, and sediment into the streams which can make the water unfit for drinking, swimming, and fishing. HR 961 would eliminate existing requirements that States use best management practices to address NPSP within specified timeframes. States could delay for more than 20 years addressing this leading source of water pollution, significantly undermining progress in this area — particularly in the coastal zones. Moreover, the current storm water management program would be replaced with a weaker program which will undermine progress in addressing storm water runoff.

— Paralyze the Federal Government's ability to issue regulations and guidance to protect the Nation's waters. The Administration believes that cost-benefit analysis can and should influence environmental decisions and that regulations should be adopted upon a reasoned determination that the benefits of the intended regulation justify its costs. H.R. 961, however, would impose overly broad and judicially reviewable risk assessment and cost-benefit requirements prior to the issuance of such rules and guidance. The bill's threshold for requiring such analysis is $25 million instead of the $100 million level established in the President's Executive Order on Regulatory Planning and Review. H.R. 961 would also require the Administrator of EPA to make a judicially reviewable certification that CWA rules and guidance maximize net benefits to society. These requirements would cause extensive litigation and could result in environmental decisions being made by the courts.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 961 would affect direct spending; therefore, it would be subject to the pay-as-you-go requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Preliminary estimates indicate that the effect of the bill would be to increase the deficit by several billion dollars during FYs 1995-1998.