Push in Congress to elevate Puget Sound recovery
The slow pace of Puget Sound recovery requires a push from the feds, according to backers of a bill introduced Monday in Congress.
The “Save our Sound” bill would amend the Clean Water Act to include a section on Puget Sound recovery and designate the sound as a nationally significant body of water on par with the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. The bill also would create a Puget Sound Recovery Office within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would help lead cleanup efforts with state, local and tribal governments.
The bill, known as “Puget SOS,” was sponsored by U.S. Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, and Denny Heck, D-Olympia, and has received the backing of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and the Puget Sound Partnership, the state agency leading recovery efforts in the sound.
In a speech before Congress, Heck expressed impatience with current efforts to solve the problems of water pollution and habitat decline.
“With every 60 seconds that goes by, Puget Sound is being damaged more than it is being fixed,” he said Monday. “We need to do more, and the federal government needs to step up to the plate to get recovery going.”
Elevating the sound’s status could mean more federal funding.
“Unlike the Chesapeake and other water bodies like the Great Lakes, the Puget Sound lacks formal ‘program’ status under the Clean Water Act,” which helps ensure consistent federal funding,” Kilmer, Heck and the other members of the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus wrote to congressional budget leaders.
The bill would also require that federal agencies ensure their activities are consistent with a conservation management plan crafted for Puget Sound.
A section of the bill reaffirms tribal treaty fishing rights.
The bill would bring a much-needed sense of “urgency” to recovery efforts, said Sheida Sahandy, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership.
“The rate of damage to Puget Sound continues to exceed the rate of healing,” she said.
Kilmer said the sound’s recreational and economic opportunities are quickly eroding.
“If future generations — including my little girls — are going to have those opportunities, we’ve got to take action,” he said.