Fifteen major national sportsmen and conservation groups urged House appropriators to drop a rider from a major spending bill that would block funding for a new policy intended to expand federal protection of streams and wetlands.

In a letter sent yesterday, the groups urged the House Appropriations Committee to drop the provision in section 109 of the energy and water spending bill that goes before the full committee for consideration tomorrow.

"The language in section 109 would maintain the status quo of wetlands loss, stream impairment and regulatory confusion," the letter says. The letter was signed by Ducks Unlimited, Izaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, among other groups.

The policy that lawmakers are threatening to block funding for was regulatory guidance that the administration released for public comment in April (E&ENews PM, April 27).

Proponents of the new policy say it seeks to restore federal protection to wetlands and streams across the United States. Two Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 drew a narrow interpretation of the Clean Water Act that led to a glut of litigation and hobbled EPA's clean water enforcement efforts.

Opponents of the policy -- which include Republicans, some farm and mining-state Democrats, and industry -- say it represents an unconstitutional federal power-grab.

"Since 2001, safeguards for headwater streams and critical wetlands have steadily eroded," the letter says. "Now endangered are the wetlands and tributaries that provide clean water for iconic systems like the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes, recharge aquifers, help retain floodwaters and provide important fish and wildlife habitat."

Click here to read the letter.