Business Owners Want Clean Water Rules

New Poll of Small Business Owners: 80% Favor Protections in New EPA Proposal; 71% Agree Clean Water is Needed for a Healthy Economy and Local Jobs

Washington /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ - A new national scientific poll of small business owners released today, found that large majorities favor federal protection of clean water and agree that clean water is necessary for a healthy economy and job creation. Small business owners are important to policy debates because they are essential employers in their communities and considered by many policymakers to form the backbone of the nation's economy.

"This national poll shows that most small business owners support exactly the same protection of clean water that the EPA has proposed in its Waters of the U.S. rule," said Richard Eidlin, Director of Policy for the American Sustainable Business Council(ASBC). "Small business owners place a high value on clean water because they know it is vital to their businesses and they are concerned about potential damage to the economy from water pollution. They also believe that government regulation is needed to safeguard clean water." 

Also commenting on the poll was Kit Wood, Owner of Green Plate Catering, a local, in-season, organic and vegan food purveyor based near Washington, DC in Wheaton, MD. She said. "Clean water is essential to my business. All of our local farmers depend on clean water of course, and we need clean water for our food preparation. I don't want to use bottled water to boil rice."

Key findings from the poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners for ASBC, include:

• 80% of small business owners favor federal protection of upstream headwaters and wetlands as proposed in the new "Waters of the U.S." clean water rule of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• 71% of small business owners said that clean water is necessary for jobs and a healthy economy.
• 67% of small business owners are concerned that water pollution could hurt their business in the future.
• 62% of small business owners say that government regulation is needed to prevent water pollution.

The poll is available online here: http://bit.ly/CleanWaterReport.

The American Sustainable Business Council and the ASBC Action Fund represent a membership network of more than 200,000 businesses nationwide, and more than 325,000 entrepreneurs, executives, managers and investors.