Berkley Conservation Institute

Water Quality / Quantity

Clean Water-Healthy Streams and Lakes:

Berkley Conservation Institute will:

• Work to ensure wetlands and fishable waters are cleaned up to meet the fishable and swimable standard of the Clean Water Act of 1973.
• Advocate for strengthening protections for wetlands and small streams. Recent decisions by the US Supreme Court have weakened the Clean Water Act, particularly with respect to protecting the wetlands.
• Work with FishNet and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) to support legislation currently introduced in Congress to re-strengthen the act.
• Join a coalition of other conservation organizations to lobby the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restore the Clean Lakes Program, as a portion of the Clean Water Act.
• Advocate legislation to exempt recreational boats from the requirement to have National Pollution Discharge Permits for bilge and runoff water. This is an onerous requirement that was never an intended target of Clean Water Act pollution prevention programs. Such legislation has already been introduced in Congress in 2008.

Mercury Pollution

Mercury pollution from coal-fired energy plants is creating fish health advisories across America, creating fear and uncertainty about the healthfulness of eating the fish anglers catch. The EPA is proposing to allow more flexibility and a delayed timetable for cleaning up this pollution. In response to this situation the Berkley Conservation Institute will:

• Work with environmental advocates and sportsmen’s groups to advocate a strict standard for removing mercury from emissions and an expedited schedule for the clean up.
• Push for consistent standards for mercury advisories between the EPA (sportfishing advisories) and the Food and Drug Administration (seafood advisories).