As soon as E P A made new Florida water regulations public in recent days, opponents were quick to pounce. This following joint statement is from the Don’t Tax Florida Coalition. By the way, it is reported that pre-registration is necessary for those wishing to appear at the February public hearings on this matter. CLICK HERE to go to an earlier news post with more information, and CLICK HERE for an earlier post with pre-registration links and information from Florida Farm Bureau.
The U.S. EPA announced new water regulations that would apply to Florida and only Florida. (View the rules at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/florida/). In response, the more than 75 businesses, associations and concerned citizens representing the Don t Tax Florida coalition issued the following joint statement.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The new water regulations announced today by the U.S. EPA water regulations that will apply to Florida but no other state represent a de facto water tax from Washington that will impose major economic hardship on Florida s battered economy with questionable benefits to our environment.
These regulations have been driven by litigants and bureaucrats working behind closed doors rather than openly through the people s elected representatives. Attempting to comply with these federal regulations which in some cases will prove technically impossible will cost tens of billions of dollars.
Floridians can expect significantly higher water bills under the proposed regulations. According to the Florida Water Environment Association, the new EPA regulations could force utilities to spend $50 billion in capital costs that would be passed on to customers through higher fees and fewer services. A separate survey of nine Florida water utilities estimated that a household s sewer rates would increase by $62 per month, or more than $700 per year. The proponents of these regulations simply have no plan to pay for these costs.
All Floridians care about protecting clean water. Florida has been recognized as a national leader in water quality protection and restoration thanks to the state s existing Total Maximum Daily Loads program, a program designed to protect clean lakes and rivers. For nearly 10 years, Florida s TMDL program has spent tens of millions of dollars to scientifically evaluate the quality of Florida s surface waters and promote the mechanisms necessary to clean up pollution. In partnership with Florida s Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Agriculture and the state s Water Management Districts, Florida s industries have been proud to cooperate with this effort.
Florida s watershed based process of establishing numeric nutrient criteria is far superior to EPA s generalized and fundamentally flawed approach, which does not take into account the unique characteristics of Florida s many thousands of rivers, streams and estuaries, said Douglas Durbin, Ph.D., of the ENTRIX environmental consulting firm, who sits on the Technical Advisory Council of Florida s Department of Environmental Protection.
We believe the standards are so extreme that in many cases, EPA would judge many pristine streams and lakes even some unaltered by human hands as impaired. It simply makes no sense to force Florida to spend billions of scarce dollars in excess of what is necessary to meet an arbitrary federal regulation, said Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Such overprotective standards create burdens that some industries will simply be unable to bear. To state only one example, the technology to treat agricultural wastewater to meet the proposed federal regulations simply does not exist. The time and cost needed to create such non-existent technology is literally incalculable.
This poses a significant problem for Florida farmers who provide our citizens with food a problem that ultimately could lead to significantly higher grocery prices.
We feel the federal government is imposing new regulations overnight on Florida and only on Florida with no regard for the technical feasibility, the massive costs, or the devastating effects they will create for Florida s struggling economy. As a result, we fear that this decision from Washington will put the brakes on Florida s economic recovery before it can even begin.
All Floridians should be deeply concerned with this development and should get involved to make their voices heard. We urge citizens to contact their elected representatives in Tallahassee and in Washington to alert them that this federal action is unacceptable.
Moreover, we urge citizens to get their concerns on the record by attending hearings planned for Feb. 16, 17 and 18 in Tallahassee, Orlando and West Palm Beach, as well as register to speak by visiting http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/florida.
For more information on the effort to prevent the EPA from jeopardizing Florida s economic recovery, please visit the Don t Tax Florida Web site at www.DontTaxFlorida.com.
The Don t Tax Florida coalition includes the following groups:
Associated Industries of Florida (AIF)
Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida Association of Florida Community Developers Audubon Ranch BCI Engineers & Scientists, Inc.
Busted Rail Groves, John B. Allen
Carlton & Carlton Ranch
CF Industries
City of Flagler Beach
Clay County Utility Authority
Colleen Castille, Florida DEP Secretary, 2003-2007 Consolidated Tomoka Land Co.
Crop Production Services
D & S Cattle Company, Inc.
D3 Farms
DCR Services
Dover Fresh Produce, LLC
ELD Groves
ENTRIX, Inc.
Epperson & Company
First Coast Manufacturers Association
Florida Agriculture Coalition
Florida Aquaculture Association
Florida Association of Special Districts Florida Cattlemen s Association Florida Chamber of Commerce Florida Citrus Mutual Florida Engineering Society Florida Farm Bureau Federation Florida Fence Post Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association Florida Fertilizer Company Florida Forestry Association Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association Florida Home Builders Association Florida Land Council Florida Minerals and Chemistry Council Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association Florida Pest Management Association Florida Pulp and Paper Association Environmental Affairs, Inc.
Florida Strawberry Growers Association
Florida TaxWatch
G and F Farms, LLC
Gulf Citrus Growers Association, Inc.
Hamilton Farms
Hardee Ranch Supply, Inc.
Heart of Florida Greenhouses, Inc.
Heartland Agricultural Coalition
Heartland Growers Supply
Highlands County Citrus Growers Association Hillsborough County Farm Bureau Hobe St. Lucie Conservancy District Indian River Citrus League International Ship Repair Iron Workers Local Union 397 Jahna Concrete Jemy West Hinton Johnson Harvesting Krause Grove Service L C Groves M&B Products, Inc.
Manufacturers Association of Florida
McCauley Cattle Service
Mosaic
North Florida Growers Exchange
Owens Rd. Grove
Paul Steinbrecher, Florida Water Environment Association Utility Council Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association Port of Tampa Maritime Industry Association Rayonier SATCO Southeast Milk, Inc.
Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida Sunbelt Milk Producers Sure Shot Piping Sylvitec Tampa Bay Wholesale Growers The Florida Water Quality Coalition, Inc.
Tom Herndon, Florida Alliance of Concerned Taxpayers Torrey Oaks Golf Course Virginia Wetherell, Florida DER/DEP Secretary, 1993-1999