May 30, 2003
Department of Environmental Protection Press Release
Federal Judge Upholds Florida's Water
Protection Plan
Court rejects complaint against state's
impaired waters rule.
TALLAHASSEE - The United States District
Court today issued a judgment
rejecting a complaint by a handful of litigants that Florida's
procedure for
identifying polluted lakes and rivers constitutes a change in
water quality
standards. The decision comes just one week after the Florida
First District
Court of Appeal upheld the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP)
Impaired Waters Rule, which is the basis of Florida's plan to
clean up state
waters.
"Florida's approach is based on sound
science and common sense. The Courts
have again determined that the State is on track with a
comprehensive plan
to clean up pollution in the water," said DEP Secretary David B. Struhs.
"We
can now focus on the real work at hand: ensuring that our waters
are clean -
and stay that way."
The complaint, filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency,
contested that Florida's rule represented a revision of water
quality
standards, which should be reviewed by the federal agency.
Today's court ruling by the Honorable Judge William Stafford
supports the
validity of DEP's Impaired Waters Rule, which establishes
scientific
criteria for identifying polluted waterbodies and prioritizing
them for
clean up.
Science-based pollution limits, called Total Daily Maximum
Loads (TMDL), are
then developed for each polluted waterbody. A TMDL is the maximum
amount of
pollution a waterbody can absorb and still meet water quality
standards for
its designated uses, such as fishing, swimming, shellfish
harvesting and
recreation or as a source for drinking water.
The Department is making significant progress restoring water
quality
throughout the state. DEP is establishing pollution limits
through targeted
monitoring, water quality modeling, public involvement, the
development of
Best Management Practices and the partnerships necessary to
accomplish
objectives.