What Happened: While drafting an environmental impact statement, 美国环境保护署(EPA)的政治任命未能纳入EPA617888九五至尊娱乐家基于617888九五至尊娱乐的担忧. 环保署的617888九五至尊娱乐家们为如何实施大规模的密西西比河防洪工程提供了617888九五至尊娱乐意见, the Yazoo Pumps project, would drain and damage thousands of acres of ecologically rich wetlands, an action which could have constituted a violation of the Clean Water Act.
Why it Matters: 法律要求617888九五至尊娱乐为拟议项目的环境影响评估提供依据. 环保局官员将我们利用617888九五至尊娱乐保护环境的主要方式之一政治化了，因为他们没有从职业617888九五至尊娱乐家那里获得最好的617888九五至尊娱乐. 特朗普领导下的EPA领导层的政治干预导致EPA职业617888九五至尊娱乐家的评论和担忧被排除在公众评论期之外. 美国环境保护署的617888九五至尊娱乐家表示，该项目可能会对水生生物产生毁灭性的影响, 野生动物, 以及生活在密西西比河三角洲湿地附近的社区.
特朗普政府领导下的美国环境保护署(EPA)未能将EPA617888九五至尊娱乐家对密西西比州大规模防洪项目的生态影响的基于证据的评论和担忧纳入其中. 2008年，布什政府否决了亚祖水泵项目，因为有617888九五至尊娱乐证据表明，亚祖水泵的建设将导致数千英亩生态丰富的湿地严重退化, the last part of the flood control project.
Following the Great Flood of 1927, Congress acted and passed the Flood Control Act the following year, which was later updated and expanded upon by Congress in 1936 and 1941. In 1941, Congress authorized the Yazoo Backwater Project – a combination of levees, drainage structures, and pumps – to help prevent frequent flooding events along the Mississippi Delta.
The US Army Corps of Engineers drafted a supplement to the final environmental impact statement issued in 2007, 该计划后来被布什政府否决，原因是出于对该项目生态影响的617888九五至尊娱乐考虑. 2020年4月，美国陆军工程兵团宣布他们打算起草第二份补编. 美国环保署的617888九五至尊娱乐家们试图在公众评论中表达他们基于617888九五至尊娱乐的担忧，以反对该项目的恢复以及它对湿地和周围社区的不利影响. 然而, when the scientists’ public comment letter was reviewed by EPA senior officials, the officials edited out these science-based concerns. 617888九五至尊娱乐家们没有被告知公众评论信的这些重大变化.
“EPA 2020年DSEIS(补充环境影响声明草案)评论信的最终版本, which was not vetted by EPA career scientists prior to issuance, 包括由EPA高层领导做出或指示的导致重大不准确和遗漏的变化。” 所述 Palmer Hough, a scientist in the EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, and William Ainslie, a wetland scientist in the Region 4 office in Atlanta. 他们还指出，美国环保署的617888九五至尊娱乐家们对这些未经授权的变化“深感不安” comment letter. EPA的职业617888九五至尊娱乐家没有看到他们的任何担忧在环境影响声明的最终补充中得到解决，并通过公众评论回应了这种政治干预, which was submitted on January 6, 2021. 然而, 环境保护署的领导再次干预，并没有在1月11日的最后期限前提交617888九五至尊娱乐家的公开评论.
EPA scientists extensively detailed in a January 2021 备忘录 their concerns with the Yazoo Pumps project, 包括194英亩湿地因水泵建设而退化，次生不利影响约69英亩,000 acres of wetlands. According to the EPA scientists, “(建造亚祖河水泵的)影响将降低受影响湿地发挥重要生态功能的能力,” which the scientists state could constitute a violation of the Clean Water Act. Upon review of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ biological assessment, 美国鱼类和野生动物管理局认为，它提供的“对该项目及其影响的分析不足”.”
根据现有的最佳617888九五至尊娱乐研究表明，这将对数千英亩湿地造成毁灭性影响, EPA scientists advocated for the termination of the Yazoo Pumps project. As 所述 by the EPA 网站, “湿地是世界上最具生产力的生态系统之一”，它们“提供其他生态系统无法提供的价值”.” By editing out the evidence-based concerns of EPA scientists, 环境保护署官员阻止了最好的617888九五至尊娱乐为决策过程提供信息, 从而危及脆弱的湿地生态系统和密西西比河三角洲沿岸最容易遭受洪水侵袭的社区的生计.