{"id":251,"date":"2010-02-23T10:29:19","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T15:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/?p=251"},"modified":"2010-02-23T10:29:19","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T15:29:19","slug":"capitol-news-connection-proposed-water-rules-face-resistance-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/2010\/02\/23\/capitol-news-connection-proposed-water-rules-face-resistance-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol News Connection: Proposed Water Rules Face Resistance In Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.capitolnewsconnection.org\/node\/13907<\/a><\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to protect Florida bodies of water like Lake Okeechobee.<\/p>\n

Manuel Quinones<\/strong><\/a>, CNC News | 16 February 2010<\/p>\n

Environmental attorney Ralf Brookes has enjoyed scuba diving in the Florida Keys for the past 20 years.\u00a0 He recalls gin-clear waters and healthy reefs.\u00a0 But Brookes says he\u2019s seen first hand how pollution has jeopardized the area\u2019s beauty.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cThe turtle grass is all covered with brown algae and it\u2019s smothering it to death,\u201d Brookes said.\u00a0 \u201cMost of the corals in the patch reef are smothered or are dying or dead.\u00a0 When you get out to the main reef, it\u2019s just tragic, you feel like crying because it\u2019s probably ten percent as good as it used to be.\u201d
\n\u00a0
\nBrookes says he\u2019s encouraged by a new plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lower phosphorous and nitrogen levels in lakes, rivers, streams and canals.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThe agency is getting tough after environmental groups sued back in 2008.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nBut the proposed EPA action is also causing controversy.\u00a0 It\u2019s the first time the agency seeks to override Florida\u2019s water quality standards, which is setting up an unprecedented showdown between local businesses and Washington bureaucrats.\u00a0 Earthjustice lawyer David Guest says the pollution comes from untreated sewage, cow manure and fertilizer.\u00a0 He says it\u2019s an especially big problem with the Miami-Dade canal systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you spray liquid fertilizer on your grass, the grass will grow like crazy and it will turn this crazy green color, well you spray that same fertilizer on the water, which is what happens when it rains, then you get this crazy growth of algae in the water,\u201d Guest said.<\/p>\n

Ephraim King, director of the EPA\u2019s Office of Science and Technology, says the pollution caused by population growth is outpacing Florida\u2019s attempts to regulate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile that process probably works well when you only have a few impaired waters, in Florida, they\u2019ve got over 850 waters that are impaired, and 60 percent of those are impaired due to nutrients,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

Fighting back is a coalition of 75 business and utility groups.\u00a0 They\u2019ve formed an organization called \u201cDon\u2019t Tax Florida.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nThat list includes peanut and row crop farmers from the Panhandle. Larry Ford has run a farm in Jackson County for 40 years. He\u2019s concerned the new caps would restrict fertilizers that make his fields more productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, say that we\u2019re putting out 180-200 units of nitrogen on corn and they tell us you have to cut back to half that, the impact on yield is going to be dramatic,\u201d Ford said.<\/p>\n

Both Florida Senators and 18 House members, including Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democrat Rep. Allen Boyd, say the new rules would hurt Florida\u2019s already struggling economy.
\n\u00a0
\nSen. George LeMieux calls them \u201cdraconian.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have a very difficult economy,\u201d LeMieux said in an interview outside the Senate floor.\u00a0 \u201cWe don\u2019t need to put up anymore roadblocks that are going to keep people from having jobs. I\u2019m very concerned that this policy would be devastating to the building and construction industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new rules would require utility companies to re-use all of the wastewater generated in each community, according to Paul Steinbrecher, vice president of an industry coalition that represents utilities and local governments.
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cI think the cost factor is important and I do think when the citizens of Florida realize this is going to more than double the average water and sewer bill, they\u2019re going to be interested in that,\u201d Steinbrecher said.<\/p>\n

But King says clear Florida waters are good for boaters, scuba divers and the state\u2019s recreation industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it\u2019ll make it stronger, and it\u2019ll increase its prosperity and we actually think working with farmers and working with the stakeholders,\u201d King said.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re pretty confident that we\u2019re going to be able to find a path through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public hearings on the new rules begin Tuesday in Tallahassee.\u00a0 There is another one Thursday in West Palm Beach.
\n\u00a0
\nEPA officials must finalize the proposal by October.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nRalf Brookes
\nRalf Brookes Attorney
\nwww.RalfBrookesAttorney.com<\/a> \u00a0
\n1217 East Cape Coral Parkway #107
\nCape Coral Florida 33904
\nPhone (239) 910-5464
\nFax (866) 341-6086
\nRalf@RalfBrookesAttorney.com<\/p>\n

Board Certified in City, County and Local Government Law
\nby The Florida Bar<\/p>\n

PLEASE NOTE if you are writing to me in my capacity as a City Attorney: Florida has a broad public records law and all correspondence, including email addresses, may be subject to disclosure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to protect water bodies such as Lake Okeechobee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.capitolnewsconnection.org\/node\/13907 The Environmental Protection Agency wants to protect Florida bodies of water like Lake Okeechobee. Manuel Quinones, CNC News | 16 February 2010 Environmental attorney Ralf Brookes has enjoyed scuba diving in the Florida Keys for the past 20 years.\u00a0 He recalls gin-clear waters and healthy reefs.\u00a0 But Brookes says he\u2019s seen first hand how … Continue reading Capitol News Connection: Proposed Water Rules Face Resistance In Florida<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}