The Clean Water Protection Act is a bill

Bill (proposed law)

A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....

 introduced in the 111th United States Congress

111th United States Congress

The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of...

 via the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over water conservation, pollution control, infrastructure, and hazardous waste cleanup, the civil works programs of the U.S. Army...

, of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. John Mica currently chairs the committee.-History:...

. It proposes to redefine "fill material" to not include mining "waste" under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

It was introduced by Frank Pallone

Frank Pallone

Frank Pallone, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously represented the 3rd district from 1988 to 1993.-Early life, education, and early political career:...

 and Chris Shays in the 110th Congress, and almost identical bills had been introduced in previous years. As of July 2009, H.R.1310 had 154 co-sponsors. Several environmental groups such as Appalachian Voices

Appalachian Voices

-Mission:Appalachian Voices is a grassroots environmental organization whose mission is toAppalachian Voices was founded in 1997and is based out of Boone, North Carolina , but has offices in Washington, D.C. and Charlottesville, Virginia They are members of the Alliance for Appalachia, Waterkeeper...

, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is a grassroots community organization founded in 1981. Though statewide, KFTC has deep roots in eastern Kentucky where coal mining remains the dominant industry...

 and Sierra Club

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

, as well as many others, support the legislation because it will help to curb mountaintop removal mining. It would also affect situations similar to the Kensington Mine operation near Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

where a mine will be permitted to discharge mining waste into a small lake as "fill."

External links

• Text of H.R.1310 in Library of Congress Reference