Mass Rivers Alliance convinced the Natural Resources State Committee to delay throwing out EPA National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) being fortified across the country, and voted to STUDY its impact thanks to our watershed leaders' delegation. TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) standards in Massachusetts have yet to be determined. Stay with us to help get environmental laws going forward once again.

Hi

I'm pleased to announce that the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture just voted to send the governor's NPDES delegation bill to study. This means the bill will not be voted on this session. As you know, we and nearly all our member groups strongly oppose authorizing the state to take over water pollution control programs from the federal government at this time. We are concerned about the inadequacy of the proposed funding, MassDEP's lack of current capacity to take on a major new program, and the possibility that without a new appeals process or a plan for accomplishing important work, like TMDL development, this change could harm water quality in the state.

We made the case, and our representatives listened.

We will continue to make the case that we should "fix it first," that is, adequately fund existing programs, before taking on this new one, and that we should better understand how permitting will change under the new proposal before moving forward with this irreversible change.

PLEASE thank the members of ENRA for their vote to send H.4254 to study. You can find them, with their contact information here: Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. The co-chairs, and almost all committee members took the time to meet with us, often several times, to learn about this issue and listen to our perspective.

Finally, a big thank you to you, our member organizations and board members, for testifying, signing on to our letters or sending your own, calling, emailing, or sitting down to talk with legislators, talking to reporters, brainstorming ideas, editing proposals, and driving through horrible traffic to get to Boston for meetings. You are inspiring, and it is a pleasure to work with all of you.

Enjoy the long weekend.

Julia

Executive Director
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
14 Beacon Street, Suite 607
Boston, MA 02108
www.massriversalliance.org
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