SEEC Slams EPA for Selling Out America’s Clean Drinking Water

Washington, D.C. – The leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), including Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui, Mike Quigley, and Paul Tonko and Vice Chairs Reps. Don Beyer, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Casten, Mike Levin, and Chellie Pingree, released the following statement in response to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s announcement of the new definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) that significantly curtails the bodies of water protected under the Clean Water Act.

“Trump's Polluted Water Rule will leave us with weaker clean water protections than we've had since the 1980s, allowing polluters free rein over our nation’s waters. This reckless decision by the EPA – the agency with a mission to protect human health and the environment – now puts the drinking water supplies of millions of Americans at risk. Clean drinking water is a necessity, not a privilege, and we’ve learned today just how far Trump’s EPA will go to ignore the health and safety of our families and communities. 

“When the American people turn on their taps to find dirty drinking water in the years to come, they can point to Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin. The EPA needs to wake up and remember its reason for existing, instead of selling out our clean water to Trump’s highest bidder.”