Washington, DC – Representing the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS), Rich Budell, Director of the Office of Agricultural Water Policy, testified recently about the devastating impact the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Numeric Nutrient Criteria will have on Florida’s economy before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife. The hearing is the third time this year Budell has testified before the U.S. Congress on this issue.
“DACS, working in cooperation with the University of Florida Food and Resource Economics Department, estimated the implementation costs of EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria just for agricultural land uses at between $900 million and $1.6 billion annually,” said Budell. “This could result in the loss of over 14,000 jobs for the state of Florida.”
Other organizations have estimated the costs of implementation to be even higher. Preliminary estimates from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection peg the implementation costs for urban storm water upgrades alone at nearly $2 billion annually. A study commissioned by a large coalition of Florida-based public and private entities estimated the total implementation to cost between $415 million and $4 billion annually. While EPA estimated the costs to implement the Florida nutrient criteria up to only $236 million annually.
“From an agricultural perspective, I can tell you without question that virtually no sector of Florida agriculture can comply with the final EPA nutrient criteria without the implementation of costly edge-of-farm water detention and treatment,” said Budell.
Budell criticized the methods used by EPA to construct its rules, stating that they were inconsistent with EPA’s own guidance documents and the advice of EPA’s Science Advisory Board. EPA also compounded this issue, inappropriately applying the methods it did use. As a result, in many cases the rule would deem healthy waters impaired.
EPA criteria did not link numeric criteria with an assessment of the biological health of a water body; therefore, in some cases, Florida residents and agencies will be required to implement nutrient reduction strategies that would reduce nitrogen and phosphorous to levels below natural background. Budell called for nutrient management decisions to be determined on a site-specific basis.
“Florida believes strongly that any nutrient reduction strategy should focus on measurable environmental improvement, while optimizing the use of public dollars and avoiding costs that have no environmental impact,” Budell said. “In fact, Florida has developed draft nutrient rules that address all of the shortcomings of EPA’s rule, avoid unnecessary cost impositions and complete the task that the state originally set out to accomplish before federal intervention. Florida is poised to adopt its own numeric criteria, if only EPA would cease federal rulemaking.”
EPA has previously acknowledged that Florida has developed and implemented some of the most progressive nutrient management strategies in the nation. Florida has placed substantial emphasis on the monitoring and assessment of its waters and, as a result of this commitment, has collected significantly more water quality data than any other state.
Florida has also made significant progress in nutrient reduction water resource restoration. Examples range from Tampa Bay where sea grasses have returned to levels not seen since the 1950s and now cover 30,000 acres, to Lake Apopka, where phosphorous levels have been reduced by 56 percent and water clarity has increased by 54 percent.
“Florida believes that Florida is best positioned to assess the health of its waters and establish associated water quality criteria for their protection and restoration. We believe that our track record for the implementation of progressive and successful water resource management programs is one of the best in the country and demonstrates the commitment and determination to further its comprehensive program through the development and implementation of state-derived numeric nutrient criteria.”
In response to concerns with EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria policy, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, in partnership with Attorney General Pam Bondi, filed a complaint December 7, 2010, in Federal Court challenging the rule. Over 30 other entities, both public and private, subsequently filed similar Federal complaints against EPA and their Florida numeric nutrient criteria, citing the same shortcomings.
To read Budell’s written testimony, provided to members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, visit http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=fe34f7c7-df25-4a22-9158-9860ce36a440.
For more information on the hearing of the U.S. Senate Subcommitte on Water and Wildlife, visit http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=ac6c2c31-802a-23ad-4a5a-9dce7b8eb51f.