FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked a federal judge to extend deadlines for proposing revised water-quality standards for Florida rivers and streams. The request, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, is the latest move in a long-running legal battle about the federal government requiring Florida to use what are known as “numeric-nutrient criteria” to curb water pollution. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in February ordered the EPA to revise the proposed requirements. The EPA was initially supposed to file changes by May 21, though that deadline was moved to June 4. In the filing last week, the EPA asked that the deadlines be pushed back again to Nov. 30 for rivers and streams in much of the state and July 20 for waterways in South Florida and coastal and estuarine waters. The EPA said it has worked “diligently” to meet the deadlines but needs further extensions.
Environmental groups, which have fought in court to impose the standards, objected to giving the EPA more time. They said in a filing Friday that “nutrient pollution is a serious and continuing problem in Florida. This fact mitigates against EPA’s proposed extensions.” Major business groups and many Florida political leaders have long criticized the EPA for seeking to require numeric-nutrient criteria, arguing that it will impose hefty costs on industries and taxpayers.
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