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The courts, the EPA and the Clean Water Rule: where we stand now
What is happening: On Oct. 21, a federal district court overturned and invalidated a Trump-era regulation that eroded state and Tribal authority to protect water quality. The now invalidated “2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule” (2020 Rule) gutted (or imposed significant revisions to) Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, a regulatory tool…
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Four areas where a new administration can help trout and salmon
On his first day, President Joe Biden unveiled an executive order aimed at confronting climate change and conserving natural resources. A number of the actions identified in the order are Trout Unlimited priorities as we engage in the federal decision-making process on behalf of trout and salmon. The executive order, Protecting Public Health and the…
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TU advocacy is grounded in science
Picturing somebody standing in a river staring at a fish while wearing a white lab coat and protective goggles for no reason might be what people think of when they hear the title Trout Unlimited scientist. While there is an outside chance that might happen, in reality the 30 or so TU staff with a…
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Clean Water Rule Update: April 2020
Administration weakens the Clean Water Act. Here's how you can help advocate for our streams. On April 21st, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a final “Waters of the U.S. Rule.” This rule replaces a 2015 Rule, which clarified the extent of Clean Water Act protections for small streams and…
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Changes to the Clean Water Rule have big impacts on the ground
High in the headwaters of Back Creek in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia are several small streams that only run after it rains. Those “ephemeral” tributaries to Back Creek, a wild brook trout stream that also holds browns and rainbows, intersect with the proposed 600-mile route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a project that…
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Clean Water Rule Update: January 2020
Final rule announced; what it says and what comes next. Final Rule Announced. On January 23rd, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced a final “Waters of the U.S. Rule.” This rule replaces a 2015 Rule, which clarified the extent of jurisdictions for clean water act protections. This new…
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We fish here so you can fish there
“We fish here so you can fish there.” So read the note that I sent to all of TU’s staff on Christmas Eve several years ago. The note included two photographs. One showed my colleague, Keith Curley, standing on a shopping cart and casting into a tributary of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.; another…
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