senate likely to vote on clean water act 051009

Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.

Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 E-mail: alra@pacifier.com Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003

Urgent: Senate EPW Likely To Vote On S 787 Thursday, May 14

-----This is an urgent, all out call to action on the Clean Water Restoration Act (S787). Please forward this message as widely as possible.

-----The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) will likely hold a mark-up (vote) on the Clean Water Restoration Act (S787) Thursday, May 14th. -----Congress is considering expanding the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to include all waters of the United States and not limit it to “navigable waters” as is currently the law under two Supreme Court Decisions, the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001.

-----There has been no hearing on S 787 this year.

-----Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) tried to ram through a vote on S 787 this last Thursday, May 7th, but there were objections.

Action Items:

-----1. Forward this message to your entire list if possible. This is big.

-----2. Call your Senator or Senators that are on the Environment and Public Works Committee to insist that the Committee hold new hearings on S 787 in this Congress before any vote.

-----3. You must deluge the Committee with calls requesting hearings. Call any Senator at (202) 224-3121.

-----4. You must also request a recorded vote on S 787 when they do vote. We must be able to give the Senators that vote for this huge land and water grab all the credit they deserve for their votes.

-----5. Call your Senators that are not on the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) to ask that they request the EPW Committee to hold new hearings on S 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act.

There must be an all out call of outrage to the Senators on the Committee opposing a vote until they hold a hearing this year on the new bill. You can call any Senator at (202) 224-3121. Make sure they know you oppose S
787 and urge them to vote against it.

You should call both your Senators even if they are not on the EPW Committee to ask that they request the EPW Committee to hold new hearings.

Here is a list of the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) Members: Their phones must ring off the hook. You want new hearings held in 2009.

Call your Senators, and then call the other Senators.

Senate Majority (Democrat) Committee Members (State in ( ) ) Barbara Boxer (CA) (Chairman) Max Baucus (MT) Thomas R. Carper (DE) Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ) Benjamin L. Cardin (MD) Bernard Sanders (VT) Amy Klobuchar (MN) Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) Tom Udall (NM) Jeff Merkley (OR) Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) Arlen Specter (PA)

Senate Minority (Republican) Committee Members James M. Inhofe (OK) George V. Voinovich (OH) David Vitter (LA) John Barrasso (WY) Mike Crapo (ID) Christopher S. Bond (MO) Lamar Alexander (TN)

Background:

Congress Moves To Seize Control Of All U.S. Waters

Key Wetlands Bill Coming In Congress. It is called the Clean Water Restoration Act. The new Senate number is S 787.

-----You are receiving this e-mail because you live in a state of a Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

This committee will decide the future of the Clean Water Restoration Act (S
787) that threatens you. So you have more power to influence the Senators on the Committee.

You then need to call, fax or e-mail them letting your Senators know of your opposition to the Clean Water Restoration Act. The EPW Committee is trying to avoid holding hearings. You need to insist that they hold new hearings and request to be notified about the hearings and if possible, ask to testify.

No number has been designated yet in the House. It should be introduced in the House soon. You must contact both your Senators immediately even if they are not on the Committee.

-----Do you want the Corps and EPA in your backyard?

-----Do you want the EPA and Corps to control your water?

-----Do you want the Corps and EPA to control all your watersheds that means all your land too?

------That’s what will happen if the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA)
(S787) passes Congress.

-----Besides private property, the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) (S 787) threatens businesses, agriculture, small communities, grazing, forestry, mining and many other uses on private and Federal land. It will affect many kinds of manufacturing companies and businesses.

-----The Real Goal of the Clean Water Restoration Act (S787) is to give Corps and EPA Control over your water and all your watersheds. That means National Land Use Controls as well as control over all your water and land. That’s because all land is in a watershed. The proposed Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) (S787), which has no House bill number yet, will give the Corps and EPA jurisdiction and control over your property and water.

-----It will redefine what the term “wetlands” means in the law. It will eliminate the requirement that the Corps and EPA limit their jurisdiction to “Navigable” waters and give those agencies control over all waters of the US or “activities” affecting those waters.

-----Congress is considering expanding the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act of 1972 to include all waters of the United States and not limit it to “navigable waters” as is currently the law under two Supreme Court Decisions, the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001.

-----Congress is also considering expanding Clean Water Act jurisdiction to include all “activities affecting these waters.” In other words, the bill is a double whammy: It expands the definition of waters and gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Corps of Engineers (Corps) and other Federal agencies control over activities that affect waters—any land use activities.

The Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) is bouncing around the House Committee. It should be introduced shortly.

Here are the two Committees that have jurisdiction. You can see a complete list of committee members at www.landrights.org

-----House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

-----Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

------We apologize in advance for the length of this e-mail. But we are trying to give you the tools to be effective with your Congressman and both Senators. We are trying to shorten the e-mails by placing material on the website with links.

-----The Clean Water Restoration Act is a massive land and water grab. You need to read the following information and then contact both your Senators and your Congressman.

-----Early action by you gives us a good chance to defeat the CWRA (S787) and prevents your Congressman from signing on as a co-sponsor.

-----Additional Action Items:

-----1. Go to www.landrights.org to see the Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

-----2. Go to www.landrights.org to check which of your Senators or Congressman are on the Committees listed above. You have a lot more power if you find your Congressman or Senator is on the list of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House or the Environment and Public Works Committee in the Senate.

-----3. Write, call, fax and e-mail both your Senators even if they are not listed on the Environment and Public Works Committee. You may call any Senator at (202) 224-3121. Ask for the staff person who handles the Wetlands, Corps of Engineers or the Environment and Public Works Committee. Request his or her e-mail address or fax number. You can write any Senator at: Honorable _________ U. S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510. It is better to fax your letter because time may be short.

Be sure to ask when the hearings are scheduled, request to be notified about those hearings, and request to testify if you can.

To send testimony you can use the revised and updated New Clean Water Restoration Act Corps of Engineers, EPA and Wetlands Testimony Questionnaire available in both formatted and text versions at www.landrights.org

-----4. Write, call, fax and e-mail your Congressman in opposition to the Clean Water Restoration Act no matter if he or she is on either of the two Committees listed above. What you need to know is written below. You may call any Congressman at (202) 225-3121. We’ve made it easy to write testimomy by setting up two versions of the Testimony Questionnaire on the website www.landrights.org

-----The first version is a formatted version you can print out, add your comments to, and fax or mail it to your Senators or your Congressman.

-----The second version is an unformatted text version you can put in your word processor, edit to meet your needs and concerns, and then e-mail to your Senators and Congressman. Just go to www.landrights.org and the two versions for the Senate and the two versions for the House will be right on the home page.

When you call your Congressman, ask for the staff person who handles Wetlands, the Corps of Engineers or the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and request his or her e-mail address. You can write any Congressman at: Honorable _________ , US House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.

Ask to be notified about coming hearings and if possible, ask that you be allowed to testify.

-----5. Be sure to tape a printed copy of this e-mail to your refrigerator door so you can refer to it in the future. This is going to be a huge battle and will take time and action by you to save your water and land.

Finding the Testimony Questionnaires is easy. They are right on the home page at www.landrights.org The formatted version can be printed out and mailed or faxed to your Senators and Congressman with any added comments you wish to make. The text version you can put in your word processor and edit any way you like. Then e-mail it to your Senators and Congressman.

You can also use the Testimony Questionnaires to give you ideas to write a personal letter. Keep it to one page. Because of time limitations, be sure to fax it to your Congressman and both Senators.

-----Rep. James Oberstar and Senator Russell Feingold are leading the fight to overturn two Supreme Court cases that ruled that the Corps of Engineers and EPA did not have jurisdiction over waters that were not “navigable”.

Oberstar and Feingold will try to gut the meaning of the word “Navigable.” They are doing this to make it possible for Democrats on their Committees to vote for the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) without getting hammered by you.

Your Congressman and both Senators must hear from you that you are not falling for this trick. They must learn from you that they will be held responsible if they vote for the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA).

-----Congress Moves To Seize Control Of All U.S. Waters

----- Maps showing existing Clean Water Act affected areas compared to the areas affected if the CWRA (Clean Water Restoration Act) if the CWRA were to pass Congress are right on our homepage at www.landrights.org

If you see the number HR 2421, that is last year’s number. That’s the old House number Oberstar used last year. You should call your Congressman to request that he or she inform you when the new House version of the Clean Water Restoration Act is introduced in the House and what the new number is. This is very important because it lets him or her know you are interested and following the issue.

Until the House assigns a new number, use CWRA or better yet, the full “Clean Water Restoration Act” name to describe the bill. Of course, in the Senate use S 787.

-----The Clean Water Restoration Act is worse than a mere return to the jurisdiction the Corps of Engineers and EPA had before the U.S. Supreme Court limited their jurisdiction. It gives the jurisdiction to the federal government that the environmental bureaucrats only dreamed of before the Supreme Court's rulings.

-----An example is that the Federal bureaucracies will gain control over all the watersheds in the United States. That includes dry land inside or adjacent to watersheds. That means everything. Because all land is in a watershed.

-----And in fact the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) (S787) even goes far beyond that by adding the language, “the activities affecting these waters,” which is essentially a limitless national land use control provision.

-----Chairman Oberstar and Senator Feingold and other Members of Congress are trying to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decisions using the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) to define those decisions away. The Supreme Court said the Corps and EPA only have jurisdiction over “Navigable Waters.” Oberstar and Feingold want to give them jurisdiction over “all water” and “all activities affecting those waters.”

-----The Clean Water Restoration Act restores the jurisdiction of the Corps and EPA over all the lands they had taken jurisdiction over before the two critical Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001.

-----The Clean Water Restoration Act is the biggest threat to private property since CARA and actually affects far more land and people. It seeks to overturn the critical Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001 that said the Corps of Engineers was going outside their jurisdiction.

Alert ….. Alert ….. Alert

Democrats and Oberstar staff lay out their plan to use Clean Water Act and Corps Jurisdiction to create national land use controls.

Read it in their own words.

Oberstar staff White Paper published on our Website, www.landrights.org

ALRA has published an Executive Summary and Analysis of the Oberstar Staff White Paper written by our associate Don Parmeter of the National Water Conservation Alliance. You’ll see in their own words what the Democrats plan is to control your land. Go to www.landrights.org

------In the White Paper on the Clean Water Act you’ll see how Rep. James Oberstar, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee want to give the power and jurisdiction to the Corps of Engineers and EPA to control all the watersheds in the United States. All land is in a watershed.

-----It is critical that you forward this message as widely as possible and hand out copies. Send it to your friends, neighbors and business associates no matter where they live. The Clean Water Restoration Act affects all waters across the whole U.S.

-----It became clear what Oberstar is really up to at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Hearing on Oberstar’s Clean Water Act Wetlands Land Grab Bill, the Clean Water Restoration Act at a hearing last year.

-----Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) made it clear at the hearing that he plans to overturn the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of
2006 and 2001.

-----That would give the Corps of Engineers and EPA jurisdiction over nearly all private and Federal land. The Supreme Court limited that jurisdiction in the two Supreme Court decisions. Look at the two maps for comparison of how the Clean Water Restoration Act affects the country at www.landrights.org

Even if you sent in testimony last year, you should do it again. This is a new Congress and a new bill. You should also call, fax and e-mail both your Senators, your Congressman and any other Congressman from your state plus all the Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. You should also call Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

-----Call, Call, Call. Fax, fax, fax. The Senate and House must be overwhelmed with testimony and phone calls. You can call any Senator at
(202) 224-3121. You can call any Congressman at (202) 225-3121.

Some Democrats have real concerns about the affect of the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) on their constituents. They are worried about whether you will realize that the CWRA really hurts you in a big way and that their vote will be held against them in the election next year. Your actions can help get both Democrats and Republicans to oppose the Clean Water Restoration Act (S 787).

You need to make sure they know they will be held responsible for their votes on this issue.

-----You must make it clear to them that you know the Clean Water Restoration Act will overturn the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001.

That means the CWRA (S787) will vastly expand the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers and the EPA.

It is critical that you take action with both your Senators and your Congressman and any other Congressman from your state. Please fill out and e-mail or fax or e-mail your Testimony Questionnaire to both your Senators and your Congressman. You can find specially written versions for both the Senate and the House at www.landrights.org You are free to change them any way you want.

Also call both your Senators and your Congressman to make sure they know you oppose the Clean Water Restoration Act and any attempt to overturn the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and 2001.

If you sent testimony to your Senators or Congressman last year, it does not count now. You must do it again because it is a new Congress and the Testimony Questionnaire at www.landrights.org is different than what you sent before.

-----Call at least three friends, forward this message to them, and get them to submit testimony.

-----The Clean Water Restoration Act has very little to do with clean water or restoration. It is mostly about land use control and expanding the power, reach and jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers and EPA over their definition of “wetlands” under the Clean Water Act of 1972.

-----What the bill supporters are doing is using the term “Clean Water,” which everybody wants, as a tool to pass legislation (CWRA) that is really about land use control and has little or nothing to do with clean water. It is a huge rural land grab but it affects urban areas too. Their target is land use control over all lands, both urban and rural.

-----What the Clean Water Restoration Act does is give the Corps of Engineers and EPA control over all private property in the US by changing the definition of “wetlands” under the Clean Water Act of 1972 expanding the regulatory reach of the Corps and EPA over private property.

-----You must prevail on both your Senators and your Congressman not to let that happen.

Go to www.landrights.org to print out a formatted Testimony Questionnaire to mail or fax to both your Senators and your Congressman. Or download a text version you can edit in your word processing program and then e-mail to your Congressman and both Senators.

Send a copy of your testimony to American Land Rights and we will hand deliver it to your Senators and Congressman. Fax it to (360) 687-2973 to e-mail it to ccushman@pacifier.com

You can borrow information from the Testimony Questionnaire to simply write a letter. Try to keep your letter to one page. Fax the letter if you can.

Follow up with a phone call.

-----Urgent Action Required

You must take urgent action to help stop the CWRA (Clean Water Restoration Act). This bill will have a huge impact on business, agriculture, small communities, rural America, farming, ranching and all private lands. It will overturn the Rapanos and SWANCC Supreme Court Decisions of 2006 and
2001. No one who owns private land is safe.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Chuck Cushman Executive Director American Land Rights Association
(360) 687-3087 ccushman@pacifier.com

You can support American Land Rights by joining for $35 per year or making a contribution. Both can be done at www.landrights.org.