Millions of Acres of Wetlands at Risk of Destruction Nationwide Under Bush Administration’s Proposed Rule

Passage of Illinois HB 422, the Wetlands Protection Act seen as urgent

Champaign, November 6, 2003: A new Bush Administration Clean Water Act draft rule released in the press today demonstrates the Administration’s intent to give developers and industry a blank check in their quest to destroy the nation’s wetlands and streams, giving new urgency to need for passage of the Illinois Wetlands Protection Act, HB 422.

The state of Illinois has only one million acres of wetlands left today, down from an historical ten million acres. This draft rule puts more than a third of those wetlands that remain at risk of immediate destruction, with significant impacts for the environmental and economic health of the state. {Continue Reading »}