EPA Delays Component of Water Regs, Seeks Review

by Keith Laing
The News Service of Florida

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 18, 2010: Bowing to criticism of federal water pollution standards from state environmental officials, and business and farming industries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will delay implementing some of the most contentious aspects of the proposal and seek a third party review of the science behind it.

In a letter to Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole, the EPA said that the agency had decided to delay until 2011 the portions of the numeric limits on the amount of pollution in state bodies of water containing the chemicals phosphorous and nitrogen, related to streams. The agency also pledged to bring in a third party arbiter to navigate the differences between their scientific analysis and Florida’s.

EPA Assistant Administrator Peter Silva attributed the decision to public hearings the agency has held across the state, which have been dominated by complaints from farmers and business owners about the cost of complying with the increased requirements.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appreciates the continued feedback and perspectives expressed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and the comments and concerns expressed to us by Florida citizens at the recent public hearings with regard to the January proposed Water Quality Standards Rule for nutrients in Florida's lakes and flowing waters,” Silva wrote to Sole Wednesday.

Silva promised the EPA would work more closely with state officials going forward, saying “we commit to consult with FDEP on the scope of third party review and will announce in early April the specific plans for that review.”

“We will work together with Florida DEP to ensure we have the best science and analyses to support developing water quality standards to protect downstream estuarine and coastal waters,” he added.

{sidebar id=1}Under the EPA plan, which is the result of a lengthy legal fight between the state and environmentalists, Florida waters would be grouped with different nutrient allotments depending on the characteristic of the water. The state has argued that the standards would be unfair because they would only be applied to Florida, but environmentalists sued state regulators for failing to enforce the federal Clean Water Act

DEP has argued that in some cases, particularly those involving streams, "narrative" standards, which are enforced on a case-by-case basis, would be more appropriate. DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said Thursday the department would not stop watching the water regulators in Washington, D.C. because the feds appeared to give in to one aspect of complaints from the state.

“Due to the decision by EPA to delay final promulgation of the downstream protection values for estuary protection until the 2011 estuary and coastal rulemaking effort, DEP is suspending our review of that aspect of the proposed rule,” she said in a statement provided to the News Service. “We continue to review the other provisions.”

Miller also said again that it would be better for Floridians to determine how to heal state waters than federal officials.

“As we continue our review, we encourage Florida scientists and water quality managers to also engage in assessing and commenting on the proposed criteria,” she said. “It is critical that those who are knowledgeable of Florida waters share information on the state’s unique ecosystems with EPA scientists to best inform their decisions in the future.”

The EPA decision was hailed Thursday by a congressman running for agriculture commissioner, who was among the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation who pressed the federal agency to extend the period for public comment on the proposed regulations earlier this month.

“EPA promised to review the rigor of their science when they met with me and other members of the Florida congressional delegation earlier this month,” U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, said in a statement. “It appears they may have known their science was lacking. This has been an example of the danger of them charging ahead on a tight deadline with thousands of technical standards for every Florida water body when Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Florida Water Management Districts don't believe those standards are supported by science.”

However, Linda Young of the Clean Water Network, who has argued that threats about increased costs associated with the EPA proposal have been exaggerated, said Thursday that the EPA’s decision was not necessarily a victory for DEP. Young said that the provisions of the nutrient standard being delayed were the ones that the court order calling for new standards was most flexible on.

“There is a court-ordered timeline for lakes, streams and springs,” Young said. “Estuaries were later, so I’m surprised. I don’t even necessarily think it’s a bad thing. I think being deliberate and taking things one step at time is a good thing.”

This article originally published on March 19, 2010.

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