Bluestem Action Alert!
Please call or email your state Senator and ask him/her again to support
the Wetlands Protection Act, HB 422.
Even if you have already called or emailed your state senator about wetlands, please do so again. The vote is expected early in February and we are just a few votes short of an assured passage!
Urge your state senator to sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill if he or she has not already done so. Please thank him/her is he is.
You can find out if your senator is already a cosponsor at the following website:
Be sure to leave your name and address when you call so that he or she knows that you are a constituent.
This landmark bill has been passed in the Illinois House. If it passes in the Illinois Senate, it becomes law. Wetlands are essential for flood control, wildlife habitat, and for filtering pollutants before they reach our lakes and rivers.
In January 2001 the US Supreme Court struck down federal protections for isolated wetlands nationwide that are not connected to navigable waters. Sixty percent of the remaining wetlands in Illinois suddenly lost all federal protection. HB 422 would require a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources before destroying any wetland in Illinois that is not federally protected. It would also require the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to certify that the permits will comply with state water quality standards and any destruction of wetlands would not cause water pollution. These requirements would not apply counties which already have wetland protection laws in place, including in DuPage, Kane and Lake Counties.
Business lobbyists, including realtors, developers, manufacturing interests and others have lined up in opposition to effective statewide protections. It is essential that this bill be passed to protect our wetlands! Our calls will make the difference!
You can find out who your State Senator is and get all his contact information on the State of Illinois website. www.elections.state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddresscrit.asp or by calling your public library or the Board of Elections (DuPage County 630-682-7442; Cook County 312-443-5150).
To speak with your Illinois state senator in Springfield, call the IL State Capitol switchboard (217-782-2000) and ask for your State senator by name.