Number: 1981-22
WHEREAS, the quality of the nation’s water is vital to the protection of fish and wildlife habitat, human health and welfare, and the nation’s economic well-being; and
WHEREAS, an effective nationwide system is necessary for the treatment of sewage and for the pretreatment of industrial contaminants of sewage in order to minimize fish kills and aquatic habitat degradation, and generally to safeguard the Nation’s waters; and
WHEREAS, the effective control of toxic wastewater discharges requires the application of the best available treatment technology coupled with toxicity testing, and cannot be achieved solely through compliance with water quality standards (which cannot be readily related to effluent concentrations, are often based on limited data, and fail to address the adverse effects of contaminants absorbed to suspended particles and bottom sediments); and
WHEREAS, the biological integrity of the Nation’s waters and the survival of its water-dependent wildlife require a comprehensive nation-wide program for the regulation of dredged and fill material disposal in wetlands and other waters of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the national interest is served by the fullest and most effective possible public participation in Federal and State decision making under the Clean Water Act; and
WHEREAS, efforts will be made in the Ninety-Seventh Congress to weaken or eliminate these programs and objectives;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 26-29, 1981, in Norfolk, Virginia, hereby urges the Congress of the United States to:
- Preserve an environmentally effective and cost-efficient Federal sewage treatment construction grants program which maximizes aquatic habitat improvement benefits while minimizing State and local dependence on Federal grant assistance;
- Maintain a strong industrial pretreatment program and a technology-based effluent control system (supplemented by toxicity testing and biomonitoring) to safeguard the Nation’s waters against toxic chemicals;
- Continue comprehensive nationwide controls against unrestricted destruction of wetlands and other waters of the United States through dredged and fill material disposal;
- Support the fullest possible public participation in Federal and State decision making under the Clean Water Act; and