Make drinking water safe once again

The proposed Clean Water Restoration Act is designed to do exactly what its name implies - restore the full power of the Clean Water Act, a cornerstone of the nation's environmental and public health laws.

In recent years, two controversial rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court have weakened the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to enforce pollution controls established by the act in 1972.

At issue is the law's use of the phrase "navigable waters," which was intended by the bill's authors to encompass large bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Elizabeth River as well as smaller creeks and streams that feed them.

But the court majority raised questions about how broadly the phrase should be interpreted and suggested that clean water regulations may not apply to creeks, intermittent streams and other waterways that aren't literally navigable.

The rulings have left EPA officials in a quandary. Regulators recently told The New York Times that more than 1,500 major pollution cases have been halted or set aside because of questions over jurisdiction.

The officials said internal studies indicate that up to 45 percent of the nation's major polluters may be untouchable because the EPA can't make a case that it has the power to regulate the bodies of waters they're fouling.

Polluters are keenly aware of the situation. More than 200 oil spill cases have been delayed as of 2008, according to regulators. The Times reports that officials at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico recently informed the EPA that they no longer believe the Clean Water Act applies to their dumping sewage into a lake on the base.

The EPA's retreat in all of these cases has serious consequences. An estimated 117 million Americans get their drinking water from sources fed by waterways that may not be protected under the Supreme Court's interpretation, according to The Times. Beyond that, there are concerns about the safety of seafood taken from affected waterways and the damage that will occur to wildlife habitats.

The Clean Water Restoration Act would strike the phrase "navigable waters" and leave the basic structure of the original law intact. Although the measure has won bipartisan support, it has stalled in Congress, in part to pressure from industry groups that see the court rulings as a chance to weaken regulations. The legislation also has been targeted by critics of the Obama administration who misleadingly claim it's a nefarious power grab.

Congress needs to pass the restoration act, swiftly and decisively. The Clean Water Act has accomplished far too much over the past 38 years to be undone by people who play loose with the facts - and the public's well-being.