EPA REVERSES EARLIER DECISION TO ALLOW FLORIDA TO SET WATER STANDARD

Washington, Apr 21 -

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, has written the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa Jackson, on a rulemaking decision affecting Florida.  Said Stearns, “In September of 2007, the EPA approved the state of Florida’s plan for developing numeric nutrient criteria to safeguard Florida’s water resources.  However, in 2009, under pressure from special interest groups the EPA reversed course and issued its determination that Florida required federal criteria to comply with the Clean Water Act.”

Stearns expressed concern over “the rule’s significant scientific shortcomings and its questionable environmental benefits.”  He also noted recent studies on the rule. One by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection estimates that the EPA mandates will in part impose $21 billion in capital costs on municipal wastewater treatment and storm water utilities. And yet another study by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services concludes that Florida’s agricultural community will lose 14,545 full-time and part-time jobs and lose $1.148 billion annually.

In the letter* to EPA Administrator Jackson, Stearns raised concerns about the pace of the EPA’s rulemaking, the transparency of its peer review process, and the cost estimates for complying with the rules.  Stearns wrote, “The state of Florida’s $5.7 billion to $8.4 billion annual cost estimate is 20 to 40 fold higher than the EPA’s estimate.”

Stearns is seeking information from the EPA on the analyses it conducted and the decision-making regarding the numeric nutrient rules.  Although water naturally contains nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, elevated concentrations from animal and human sources can cause excessive algal and plant growth that are harmful to other life forms.  Stearns requested a detailed chronological description of all EPA actions and decisions relating to the rule, an explanation of the scientific and technical analyses for EPA’s determination that Florida required federal criteria to comply with the Clean Water Act, and if the EPA had conducted any analysis of the cost to businesses to comply with the rule.

Added Stearns, “The EPA did not even wait to see what criteria Florida developed to protect its own water resources and failed to provide much consideration for the excessive cost of meeting the federal criteria. I am very concerned about preserving the Silver River in my hometown as well as the Oklawaha and the St. Johns Rivers in my district. Although I don’t want to see the EPA develop these burdensome and expensive regulations, I do want the EPA and the State of Florida to work together in developing an economical solution to protecting our waters.  I have requested the Energy and Commerce Committee hold a hearing on this issue to better understand how this decision was reached and its impact on Florida.”

* Copy of the letter