EPA Water Rule Under Fire In Florida

Representing the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Rich Budell, Director of the Office of Agricultural Water Policy, testified at a field hearing hosted by the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Serving on a panel with Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Budell discussed how EPA’s takeover of Florida’s water quality standard setting will affect Florida communities and deter job creation.

“DACS, working in cooperation with the University of Florida Food and Resource Economics Department, estimated the implementation costs just for agricultural land uses at between $900 million and $1.6 billion annually,” said Budell. “This could result in the loss of more than 14,000 jobs for the state of Florida.”

Other organizations have estimated the costs of implementation to be even higher. Preliminary estimates from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection peg the implementation costs for urban storm water upgrades alone at nearly $2 billion annually. A study commissioned by a large coalition of Florida-based public and private entities estimated the total implementation to cost between $1 billion and $8.4 billion annually. While EPA estimated the costs to implement the Florida nutrient criteria up to only $236 million annually. “From an agricultural perspective, I can tell you without question that virtually no sector of Florida agriculture can comply with the final EPA nutrient criteria without the implementation of costly edge-of-farm water detention and treatment,” said Budell. “Construction of these facilities takes land out of production and requires ongoing operation and maintenance. Few growers can afford to implement this kind of practice.”

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EPA has previously acknowledged that Florida has developed and implemented some of the most progressive nutrient management strategies in the nation. Florida has placed substantial emphasis on the monitoring and assessment of its waters and, as a result of this commitment, has collected significantly more water quality data than any other state. “Florida has earned the right to exercise the authority envisioned by the Clean Water Act to develop its own water quality standards and implement them through an EPA approved and predictable process governed by existing state law,” Budell said.

Budell criticized the methods used by EPA to construct its rules, stating that they were inconsistent with EPA’s own guidance documents and the advice of EPA’s Science Advisory Board. EPA also compounded this issue, inappropriately applying the methods it did use. As a result, in many cases the rule would deem healthy waters impaired.

EPA criteria did not link numeric criteria with an assessment of the biological health of a water body; therefore, in some cases, Florida residents and agencies will be required to implement nutrient reduction strategies that would reduce nitrogen and phosphorous to levels below natural background. Budell called for nutrient management decisions to be determined on a site-specific basis.

To read Budell’s written testimony, provided to members of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, click here. 

Source: FDACS