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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Clean Water Rule Hits Arizona

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Thursday, May 28, 2015   

PHOENIX - The Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has released a new Clean Water Rule, which supporters say will better protect rivers and streams in Arizona and across the U.S. from pollution.

Bret Fanshaw, state advocate with Environment Arizona, says the new rule will restore Clean Water Act protections for headwaters, some streams and wetland habitat left uncertain by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings. He says there is currently limited protection for streams that supply drinking water for one in three Americans.

"The rivers and waterways we raft and fish, and drink from, can only be clean if the smaller streams and headwaters that feed them are protected and clean," says Fanshaw.

In addition to drinking water, Fanshaw says the at-risk waters also provide essential fish and wildlife habitat that helps to support Arizona's multi-billion-dollar outdoor recreation economy. But some environmental groups say the new rule doesn't protect as many waterways as they had expected.

John Gale, conservation director with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, says legislation in Congress (S.1140) already seeks to undo the updated Clean Water Rule. He points out that the rule-making process has been going on for years, with plenty of time for all sides to make their case, and says trying to derail it now doesn't make sense.

"It's been a long public process, with tremendous opportunities to comment over the last few years," he says. "We want to see a final rule put in place that restores these important protections."

Gale adds, during the EPA's rule-making process, about 900,000 people commented in support of the Clean Water Rule.


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