The state Department of Ecology released its proposal for a new clean water rule, a formal draft similar to the policy Jay Inslee outlined last fall. The Yakima Herald,
“Specifically, the rule would raise the estimated level of fish consumption used in pollution risk calculations from one serving a month to one serving a day to protect the health of people, such as tribal members, who eat a lot of locally caught fish. It also uses a one-in-1-million cancer risk rate.”
The need for Ecology to draft new rules came after Inslee threw a fit after the last legislative session and scrapped an earlier draft—a draft that took a year to develop—after failing to get his way on his extreme “green” agenda.
Inslee’s killed Ecology’s original plan just days before the rules would have been adopted. Our green governor wanted the rules to be implemented along with “legislation meant to reduce toxic chemicals,” which was a backroom deal he had cut with some of the extreme environmental groups that invested so much in getting him elected.
By every indication, Inslee is the only governor in the nation who attempted to link the clean water rules to his own special-interest driven agenda.
However, while Inslee’s jam-packed extreme “green” bill passed the state House, it did not have enough bi-partisan support to make it through the state Senate. So, Inslee threw a fit and killed the clean water rule altogether.
Inslee faced pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit state-specific draft rules. In October, the EPA began the process of writing rules for Washington State after Inslee scrapped the original ones. The EPA’s plan would move forward in the event that the state “fails to finalize an acceptable one.”
Unlike the EPA’s version, the state’s proposal would offer “more options and time” to meet the new regulations. However, it is still stricter then the plan our green governor killed last year.
Of course, for some far-Left greenies, Ecology’s latest version of the plan does not go far enough to punish businesses in our state. Chris Wilke, executive director of Puget Soundkeeper, told the Seattle Times that he has “given up on the state writing rules that are tough enough and at this point would rather see the EPA’s proposed rule go into effect.” So, his organization filed “a 60-day notice of intent to sue to speed up its implementation.”
Wilke and his group are not alone in their discontent. The Seattle Times reports,
“Tribes also were critical of the state’s proposed standards. The rule is based on 175 grams of fish consumption — up from the present level of 6 grams — which tribes emphasize is already a big compromise for some communities. Surveys show many Indian people eat far more: At Lummi Nation, some tribal members surveyed in 2013 said they were eating 918 grams — or a little over 2 pounds of fish and shellfish a day.”
From Inslee on down, no Democrats appear the least bit concerned with the ramifications that even stricter rules would have on economic growth. Businesses—and cities across the state—would be saddled with an impossible burden to obtain the new technology needed to meet unrealistic standards.
As Shift reported back in 2014, the technology needed to meet strict standards based on a fish consumption rate of 175 grams doesn’t actually exist—even stricter standards are not only irresponsible, they are impossible to meet, paving the way for the far-Left enviros to file even more lawsuits.
Of course, the extreme “greenies” don’t really care about reality or the impact their policies have on businesses ability to create jobs… just as long as their wacky ideology is appeased.
