Fw:water wars.... HB 2080 and EPA suit

PASS THIS ON:
> House Bill 2080 was quietly approved the last day of session and is sitting
> on the governors desk for signing. This bill essentially grants power to
> Water Management District Directors to approve all ERP and CUP permits
> without having to go to the board. That means NO public has any imput no
> public comment or meeting. Therefore, there would be no third party
> challenges and effectively removes all opposition opportunities for all
> projects.
>
> NEEDS GOVERNOR VETO
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> And then,....
>> The May 5, 2009 suit complains that the US EPA has been arbitrary in
>> allowing Florida to create new or revised standards, that are
>> substantially less protective of water quality than pre-existing water
>> quality standards (Chapter 62-302).
>
>
>
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>> Contact:
>> May 6, 2009
>> Linda Young
>> llyoung2@earthlink.net
>> 850.222.9188
>>
>> GROUPS SUE EPA OVER WEAKENING OF FLORIDA?S
>> WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
>>
>>
>> Tallahassee, FL ? Three environmental organizations have filed suit
>> against
>> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its approval of
>> Florida?s latest efforts to circumvent the Clean Water Act. The suit was
>> filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in
>> Tallahassee on Monday, May 4th, by the Florida Clean Water Network, St.
>> Johns Riverkeeper and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
>>
>> In 2007, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)
>> adopted
>> an amended Impaired Waters Rule (IWR), as a new water quality standard in
>> Florida. FDEP submitted the amended IWR to EPA for approval as a change
>> to
>> Florida?s water quality standards, on September 14, 2007. The Florida
>> Clean
>> Water Network and more than 60 environmental, recreational, and civic
>> organizations had submitted comments to FDEP and the US EPA expressing a
>> number of objections to the amended IWR as changes to Florida?s Water
>> Quality Standards.
>>
>> On February 18, 2008, EPA published a Determination Upon Review of
>> Amended
>> Florida Administrative Code Chapter 62-303, Identification of Impaired
>> Surface Waters (the ?2008 Determination?). In the 2008 Determination,
>> EPA
>> concluded that some provisions of the amended IWR are new or revised
>> water
>> quality standards, and approved those provisions as changes to Florida?s
>> water quality standards. EPA also concluded that some provisions of the
>> amended IWR are not water quality standards. EPA?s determination was not
>> entirely consistent with previous determinations made regarding the IWR.
>>
>> ?As years roll by, FDEP?s continued efforts to circumvent the plain
>> language
>> of the Clean Water Act get more and more complicated and difficult for
>> citizens to navigate,? says Linda Young, director of the Florida Clean
>> Water
>> Network. ?This is not just obsessing over rules, this is about having
>> safe
>> water to swim in, uncontaminated fish and shellfish and preventing toxic
>> algal blooms in our communities,? Young says.
>>
>> Florida DEP has deliberately defied Clean Water Act requirements for the
>> past nine years (at least). For several years since 2002, FDEP illegally
>> used the Chapter 62-303 F.A.C. to construct an ?Impaired Waters List?
>> without sending it to the US EPA for approval. Then in October 2008,
>> FDEP sent a partially updated ?Impaired Waters List? to EPA to review.
>> EPA hasexpressed concerns with Florida?s list and has been in negotiations
>> with
>> Florida over the approval/disapproval of that list. Florida is expected
>> to amend their latest lists in the next few months and resubmit it to EPA.
>> Florida Clean Water Network filed suit against the EPA in April for their
>> failure to approve or disapprove Florida?s 303(d) lists for the past six
>> years.
>>
>> The May 5, 2009 suit complains that the US EPA has been arbitrary in
>> allowing Florida to create new or revised standards, that are
>> substantially less protective of water quality than pre-existing water
>> quality standards (Chapter 62-302). The new standards (Chapter 62-303)
>> are supposed to only
>> apply for the TMDL program, which creates additional confusion for
>> Floridians who are trying to protect waters in their communities.
>>
>> Some of the real consequences of Florida?s new standards are that it is
>> much
>> more difficult to get pollution reduction requirements for waters that
>> are
>> overly polluted with bacteria. Also, many waters that have too much
>> nitrogen or phosphorus are ignored by the rule, leading to toxic algal
>> blooms.
>>
>> ?The Florida DEP continues to circumvent the Clean Water Act, and the St.
>> Johns River suffers. We?ve already seen algae blooms this year in the
>> River, said St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon. ?The EPA has given
>> Florida polluters a free ride for the last eight years. With this suit,
>> citizens have sent the message that it?s time to turn the page, he
>> added.?
>>
>> Too much nitrogen, phosphorus and/or bacteria are some of Florida?s most
>> serious water quality issues. Using Florida?s long-standing water
>> quality
>> criteria, hundreds of springs, lakes, rivers and bays are considered too
>> polluted for their designated uses (shell-fish, swimming, fish habitat,
>> etc.). However, under the IWR, it is much more difficult to find a water
>> unacceptably polluted with bacteria and many unsafe waters are allowed to
>> continue receiving excessive pollution loads, often caused by stormwater
>> run-off.
>>
>> According to Andrew McElwaine, President of the Conservancy of Southwest
>> Florida, ?nutrient-laden stormwater is not only a disaster for urban
>> estuaries such as Naples Bay and the Caloosahatchee, but is also
>> impairing
>> water quality in such national treasures as the Rookery Bay National
>> Estuarine Research Reserve and the 10,000 Islands National Wildlife
>> Refuge.
>> Without prompt and firm action by EPA and FDEP, these treasured places we
>> thought had been protected will instead see rising levels of nutrient
>> pollution and contamination,? said McElwaine.
>>
>> In 2007, Florida beaches were unsafe for swimming at least 2,686 days
>> according to reports filed by county health departments. The IWR allows
>> water samples taken during wet weather conditions to be ignored if FDEP
>> so
>> chooses, despite the fact that rainwater is one of the primary carriers
>> of
>> polluted run-off and leads to beach closures.
>>
>> One of the most outrageous loopholes in the IWR is known as the ?mack-
>> truck loop hole? and is being used more and more by the state to keep
>> polluted
>> waters from getting pollution limits. This amazing by-pass of the Clean
>> Water Act allows DEP to evaluate where proposed actions to be taken by
>> almost anyone will someday result in clean water again. DEP can allow
>> excessive pollution to continue endlessly in the hope that ?proposed?
>> actions will someday correct the problem.
>>
>> ?We defeated the IWR once and instead of graciously allowing the citizens
>> of
>> Florida to begin enjoying the protection of the Clean Water Act, Florida
>> DEP
>> created an unanticipated seat at the Clean Water Act-family table,? says
>> Young. ?Alongside the federally sanctioned standards (designated uses,
>> criterion and anti-degredation policy) Florida unilaterally decided to
>> add a
>> fourth, by adopting the IWR as a new standard. We contend that this 4th
>> child (so to speak) was illegally adopted and should have no place at the
>> table. We have asked the court to read the law and make EPA do its job
>> to
>> protect Floridians? right to safe waters for drinking, swimming, fishing
>> and
>> other protected uses,? Young says.
>>

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