Federal Rulemaking and Legislative Reform

The implementation of laws that protect our environment – the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and others – represent a complex interplay among the three branches of government. Our legislators create the statutes.  These laws are turned over to the administrative agencies of the executive branch to create the regulations that further define and implement the statute.  And when laws and regulations are challenged by citizens like you and organizations like Waterkeeper Alliance, it’s the judiciary branch that can send executive agencies back to the drawing board to create better regulations or invalidate legislative acts that violate our fundamental rights.  

Waterkeeper Alliance works to strengthen our environmental protections and safeguard water quality by influencing all phases of this process. We monitor the federal agencies for any sort of regulatory rulemaking that might impact clean water and strong communities. When we see bad regulations, we file extensive comments recommending ways the regulations can be made better. If the agency finalizes regulations without fixing the problems, we stand ready to challenge them in federal court and have them declared illegal.

On the legislative side, Waterkeeper keeps a watchful eye on Congress. When bad bills or harmful amendments to bills are proposed, we mobilize our membership and other partners to fend off these attacks on our waterways. We work with legislative aides, reach out to committee members and create action alerts. Affirmatively, we draft bill language and seek sponsors and congressional support for good changes to our laws.