Manchin, Rockefeller, and Boxer Introduce the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act

I have my fingers crossed on this one. In the wake of the chemical spill in West Virginia's Elk River that left 300,000 without drinking water, Senators Joe Manchin, Jay Rockefeller, and Barbara Boxer introduced the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act, which would, once enacted provide for the following:

1. Require regular state inspections of above-ground chemical storage facilities.
2. Require industry to develop state-approved emergency response plans that meet at least minimum guidelines.
3. Allow states to recoup costs incurred from responding to emergencies.
4. Ensure that drinking water systems have the tools and information to respond to emergencies.

This is a good move on the part of West Virginia’s senators and my senator here in California. I’m pretty certain that the GOP controlled House will delay, water down, or kill this legislation—I can hear their usual canards already: “overregulation,” “jobs killing,” “jobs or the environment,” “war on coal,” and a few others—before president Obama can sign it into law. But it is still a development that gives me hope for West Virginia and West Virginians.

Safe drinking water is a right.