Logging Roads Must Meet the Standards of the Clean Water Act to Protect Our Salmon and Steelhead

In a unanimous decision issued in NEDC v. Brown, a case involving logging roads on Oregon State lands, the Ninth Circuit ruled that polluted stormwater generated by logging roads is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The August 2011 decision requires that logging roads meet the standards of the Clean Water Act that would protect our clean water and salmon and steelhead. We are stunned that Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna would join with very conservative states such as Arkansas in urging the Supreme Court to overturn this court decision.

The decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is a major step forward in protecting our rivers and streams from the worst of the sediment runoff from logging roads. This helps protect drinking water for many communities as well as the investments we are making at the local, state, and national level to recover our salmon and steelhead runs. It is simply common sense and good policy to limit and control this type of pollution to protect our clean water.

This week, the Seattle Times ran an editorial supporting our position, Follow the law to protect fish and water supplies.   The editorial rightly points out, "Clever wordplay over the source of the runoff does not matter to the fish who struggle to survive and reproduce in degraded conditions, or to the millions of people worried about clean water supplies."

Every Washingtonian has a personal stake in clean water and protecting our salmon and steelhead. We are investing literally billions of dollars in salmon recovery. And, many jobs from commercial, sport, and Tribal fishing depend on protecting and restoring our salmon runs. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that each year over 2.7 million people participate in hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching in Washington State alone, contributing over $3 billion to the state’s economy. Clean Water is an essential part of providing these opportunities and benefits.

Neither the Washington Department of Ecology or Department of Natural Resources – the two agencies with key oversight authority on these issues asked McKenna to take this action. Apparently McKenna is more interested in supporting timber industry polluters than clean water for all Washingtonians. That’s just wrong.

Sediment associated with logging is a well-documented threat to water quality. Across the West, logging roads are a major source of sediment from logging activities. Logging roads create a constant source of sediment discharged into nearby rivers and streams unless properly done. We expect our Attorney General to support cleaning it up, not try to undermine Clean Water Act protections.

Our state agencies and EPA have decades of experience with general storm water permits because most other industrial and construction sectors have been required to comply with them since at least 1990. It is past time for the timber industry logging roads sediment pollution to also meet Clean Water Act standards.

Indeed Washington is already far down the path to being able to meet any new requirements because our current practices are better than most other states such as Oregon and Idaho. Indeed applying the CWA standards nationally would not only help protect our clean water and fisheries, but would level the playing field for us here in Washington. Why would McKenna want to do that?

We need the Clean Water Act standards to be applied for the benefit of our clean water, our salmon and steelhead, and our economies who depend on healthy rivers, streams, and fisheries.