Overview
In 2002 the Bush Administration made it easier for mining companies to bury and destroy streams by changing a key Clean Water Act rule. Under the new rule, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can issue permits to allow waste to fill the nation’s waters. This change, which overturned a 25-year prohibition on using waste as fill material, violates the protections of the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Protection Act serves to overturn this rule change, and prohibit mining companies from burying waters with waste.