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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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The Teamsters choose not endorse a presidential candidate, county officials in Texas fight back against state moves to limit voter registration efforts and the FBI investigate suspicious packages sent to elections offices in at least seventeen states.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Water Bill Leaves 'Bad Taste' For MO Environmentalists

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Monday, August 1, 2011   

WASHINGTON - Safeguards on clean water in Missouri may disappear if a bill in Congress is successful. The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act removes some federal authority to enforce clean water laws, leaving some waterways unregulated.

Ted Mathys, state advocate with Environment Missouri, says that would be the effect of nearly 40 policy riders attached to the appropriations bill under debate in the U.S. House.

"The bill is incredibly broad and stacked up with policy riders. It is an enormous gift to polluters. It is one of the worst environmental bills we've seen in many many years."

Mathys says the bill would cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 18 percent and restrict its ability to maintain clean drinking water for almost 2.5 million Missourians.

"Not only does it slash funding for key environmental protections, but it also places public health at risk by essentially allowing a number of the largest polluters in the country, from coal-fired power plants to large agricultural producers, to continue to foul our air and our waterways."

The riders reflect the intention of House Republican leadership to cut spending by the Interior Department, the EPA and other agencies. Mathys says the riders make disproportionate cuts in environmental and natural resources programs, threatening health and safety.

President Obama has made clear his intention to veto any environmental spending bill that arrives with the policy riders in place.

The measure is HR 2584, the FY 2012 Interior and Environment and Related Agencies' Appropriations bill.






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