HR 2018 threatens the Environmental Protection Agency's
authority of enforcement actions when an entity pollutes the
environment and gives that authority to the states. This
legislation is a step backwards to the days prior to the Clean
Water Act. Comparitively, on January 1, 1994, Canada, Mexico
and United States entered into a agreement named the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) which is an
environmental agreement between the United States of America,
Canada and Mexico as a side-treaty of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). In effect, the creation of the NAAEC
acknowledged the need for a cooperative commission for the
protection of the North American environment in a similiar manner
the Clean Water act granted the authority of the EPA to protect the
public trust waters of the United States. The passage of HR 2018 in
the House clearly demonstrates an attempt by those supporting this
bill to circumvent the Clean Water Act that was clearly created to
protect the public trust waters of the United States and thus the
health of its people.