OP-ED: Protecting water strengthens the business community

It isn’t just flood waters that affect small businesses along the Meramec, Platte, Chariton, Osage and St. Francis rivers in Missouri. The quality of the waters that flow there every day is vital for small businesses that cater to fishing, hunting, tourism, agriculture, recreation and other forms of commerce.

Without Clean Water Act protections passed by Congress in 1972, there's often nothing stopping sewage, toxic chemicals or other harmful pollutants from threatening our waterways - not just lakes and rivers, but the streams and wetlands that feed them.

Right now, not all streams and wetlands are protected equally from pollution, and this loophole is threatening clean water and small businesses. That’s why this spring, the Environmental Protection Agency took targeted action with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect the waters that really matter. Science shows us what kinds of wetlands, streams and headwaters impact water downstream - so our action protects these waters.

Business leaders across the country have praised EPA’s continued commitment to clean water for all Americans. A recent survey found that 80 percent of U.S. small-business owners favor including small streams and headwaters in federal clean water protections. More than 300 small businesses across the country wrote a letter to the president supporting protections for critical waterways across the country, because every small business in America needs clean water to thrive.  

This proposal creates no new requirements for small businesses. The Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Department of Justice and Council of Environmental Quality agree the certification of the proposed rule is fully consistent with the law and past practices.

The EPA convened a roundtable with the U.S. Small Business Administration and small businesses before the proposal was published, and the agency is working with the SBA now to convene a second roundtable to solicit input on the proposal to ensure the final rule protects clean water and jobs without creating regulatory burdens.

We have held hundreds of meetings across the country with small businesses, agricultural groups and other stakeholders.  And we are committed to listening to the hundreds of thousands of comments raised during this period, so we can finalize a rule that provides certainty, follows the law and the science, and protects our precious water resources.

The public comment period for the proposal is open through Nov. 14, and we encourage your input to make sure we craft a strong, workable final rule.

The comment process is enriched when we hear from the business community, developers, farmers, conservationists, energy companies, states and local governments. We will not complete the rule until we have carefully reviewed the public comments, until our scientific analysis and peer review are complete, and until we have worked to make the rule understandable, technically accurate and legally correct.  

Karl Brooks is administrator for U.S. EPA Region 7, which includes Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and nine tribal nations. He lives in Lawrence, Kan.