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NFC: Fw: UPDATE ON POLLUTED WATERS
UPDATE ON POLLUTED WATERS
LISTING AND DELISTING RULEMAKING
Friends of Clean Water –
Many of you have been talking with Grace Frances over the past few weeks
about the state’s Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) program and how you
can
get involved with our campaign to get ALL of Florida’s polluted water
ways
cleaned up. I have attended several of FDEP’s Technical Advisory
Committee
(TAC) meetings over the past year and am quite concerned about the
direction
they are taking the state’s program.
Currently FDEP’s focus is on developing a rule for criteria to be used
to
determine what constitutes a “polluted” water body. Their rule is
supposed
to be based on Florida’s TMDL legislation which was passed in 1999. This
legislation is at least partially inconsistent with the Clean Water Act
and
EPA’s rules and guidelines. That is mostly irrelevant to FDEP. My
candid
observation is that FDEP is trying to guide the TAC in a direction which
will eventually lead to a rule which will make it very difficult to get a
polluted water body listed on the state’s 303(d) list (impaired waters
list). The TAC has done a pretty good job of trying to make the rule as
scientifically based as possible, but having said that, there are many
problems facing those of us who simply want our polluted waters cleaned
up.
Obviously the regulated community and the timber and agriculture
interests
have a very powerful presence in this whole process. FDEP and the
Governor’
s office appear to be much more concerned about the needs of regulated
interests than the public’s need for fishable and swimmable waters. The
only way we will eventually get a state rule that will require the
cleanup
of polluted waters is for everyone to get involved.
The federal laws take precedence over the state statutes and rules and
Clean Water Network will certainly do everything within our power to see
that federal laws are followed. However, as many of you know, Congress
is
not friendly toward EPA’s efforts to strengthen the Clean Water Act
through
rulemaking and there is a presidential election this year which could
have
an extremely detrimental outcome on the federal government’s position.
So,
in short, we cannot put all our eggs in the federal basket.
FDEP does not yet have a draft rule ready, but they say it will be
available any minute. As soon as it arrives, we will send it to you
along
with our comments on it. That will give you the details regarding what
we
think is wrong with FDEP’s proposal at this stage of the game. It will be
our collective job to get them to change what’s wrong with it.
There are several important meetings scheduled over the next few months.
We are encouraging you to attend them and to bring as many of your
members
as possible. We will also be sending you sign-on letters, alerts, etc.
to
let you know what else you can do to get involved. The most important
meeting will be the rule-adoption hearing before the Environmental
Regulation Commission (ERC) which FDEP says will be in early December.
That
may change and if it does well keep you posted.
The next meeting will be this Friday, August 4th in Tallahassee. It
starts at 9:00 and runs until 4:30. It is at the Winewood Building
Complex.
To get there take Apalachee Parkway to Blairstone, then go two lights to
Winewood and it is on the left, building #4.
Thanks for getting involved. If you have questions contact Grace
Frances
or me. My phone number is 850/222-9188. Grace can be reached at
222-8701
or gfrances at mindspring_com Below is the public notice for Friday’s
meeting
issued by DEP. Linda Young.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
The Department of Environmental Protection announces a public meeting,
which will include a meeting of the 303(d) List Methodology Technical
Advisory Committee, to which all interested persons are invited to
discuss
issues related to the development of a methodology to identify impaired
waters for listing on the State’s 303(d) list.
DATE AND TIME: Friday, August 4, 2000, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PLACE: Winewood Complex, Building 4, 1313 Winewood Blvd, Tallahassee,
Florida 32399.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any
person requiring special accommodations to participate in this meeting is
asked to advise the agency at least 48 hours before the meeting by
contacting the Personnel Specialist in the Bureau of Personnel at (850)
488-2996. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the
agency
by calling (800) 955-8771 (TDD).
PURPOSE OF MEETING: To receive public input on the draft rule for the
development of the methodology to identify impaired waters for inclusion
on
the State’s 303(d) list pursuant to section 403.067, Florida Statutes,
and
section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act.