Florida's Congressional delegation sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson today asking the agency to extend the comment period and expand public hearings on its water quality standards issued last month. The letter — signed by U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and George LeMieux and 18 U.S. House members — follows the first detailed remarks from Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole, who told a state House committee Wednesday to "be afraid" of some components of the new rules.
EPA
is hosting two public forums at three locations Feb. 16 (Tallahassee),
Feb. 17 (Orlando) and Feb. 18 (West Palm Beach) and soliciting comments
for 60 days.
Sole and EPA critics — including Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson
– were surprisingly quiet when the standards were released. But now
the campaign to fight them is gearing up. State lawmakers joined the
chorus Wednesday with Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City,
wondering aloud why the lawsuit against the federal government isn't
already filed. "What do we do other than seceding from the Union?" he
asked.
Find the full text of the letter from the Congressional delegation below.
Dear Administrator Jackson:
As
you know, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a
proposed rule establishing numeric nutrient criteria for Florida water
bodies. As part of a consent decree EPA entered into with several
litigants, a commitment was made by EPA to issue a final rule by
October 15, 2010, for lakes and flowing waters, and for estuaries and
coastal waters by October 15, 2011. The proposed rule is lengthy,
technical, and will take time for experts, much less lay stakeholders,
to understand its implications. Moreover, there is some disagreement
between scientists at the EPA and at the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding the data each entity is using.
It is our understanding the EPA will accept comments for sixty days
from the date of publication in the Federal Register and has scheduled
only three public hearings on the proposed rule to be held in
Tallahassee, Orlando, and West Palm Beach from February 16 -18.
These
regulations will impact every citizen, local governments, and the
business community. The more time and information the public has to
understand these rules provides more time to plan and consider the
costs and benefits of implementation. Hosting three hearings in a
narrow time period, in a state with more than 18 million residents is
simply inadequate to review this complicated proposal. Furthermore, a
sixty day comment period, which expires forty days after the date of
the first public hearing, provides insufficient time for stakeholders
to submit meaningful and comprehensive comments.
Therefore, we
strongly urge you to extend the comment period and host additional
public hearings throughout the state. Florida residents deserve a full
and thorough public airing of these proposed regulations and adequate
time to understand what will be required of them when the rules are
implemented. An administration that has consistently advocated for more
transparency within the governing process should welcome the
opportunity to provide more stakeholders with a better understanding of
these complex regulations in urban and rural areas alike.
Signers of the letter include:
Senators
Bill Nelson and George LeMieux, and Congressmen Tom Rooney, Allen Boyd,
John Mica, Alcee Hastings, Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Vern
Buchanan, Cliff Stearns, C.W. Bill Young, Connie Mack, Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, Corrine Brown, Ander Crenshaw, Gus Bilirakis, Ginny
Brown-Waite, Jeff Miller, and Suzanne Kosmas.
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