Bush Blesses Clinton Rule on Wetlands

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Monday April 16 11:06 PM ET

Bush Blesses Clinton Rule on Wetlands

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites)'s administration said on Monday it would let stand an environmentally friendly Clinton administration rule to protect U.S. streams and wetlands.

The move will plug a loophole in the Clean Water Act that could have hurt marshes, swamps and bogs by allowing discharges into them from development activities such as mechanized land clearing, ditch digging or channel cutting, the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) said.

The decision to lift a moratorium on the Clinton administration rule won grudging plaudits from conservationists. They have been highly critical of Bush's initial actions on the environment, including his step back from a pact aimed at curbing global warming.

The new rule will protect an estimated 20,000 acres of wetlands and 150 miles of streams, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said in a statement.

``This administration will continue to take reasonable steps to ensure that we can preserve these vital natural resources for future generations of Americans,'' he added.

Carl Pope, executive director of the San Francisco-based Sierra Club (news - web sites), said it was ``nice to see a positive decision in a host of bad environmental news coming from the White House.''

Wetlands provide flood protection and homes for a wide range of birds, fish, shellfish and wildlife. They also serve as natural filters for toxins, heavy metals and other pollutants because the vegetation and wet soil trap toxins and sediments.

Under the Clean Water Act, discharges into U.S. waters require a permit. But in 1997, a federal court ruled that a 1993 regulation, known as the Tulloch Rule, should not have been applied to certain discharges even when they were linked with actions that threaten wetlands. The decision was affirmed on appeal.

Shortly before leaving office on Jan. 20, President Bill Clinton created a different rule requiring a permit to show that a project would not discharge materials into water as regulated by the Clean Water Act.

The Bush administration had put a hold on implementation of the rule until EPA Administrator Christie Whitman decided to let it stand.

-- (isn't th@t.ducky), April 17, 2001


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