The EPA announced this morning that it has finalized numeric nutrient criteria for Florida waters -- specific limits on the amounts of nutrient pollutants allowed in the state's water bodies. These criteria will in turn limit discharges by point and non-point sources. Currently, nutrient limits are set only by "narrative" water quality standards -- which have little teeth.
The EPA agreed last year to set the limits following a consent decree reached after a coalition of environmental groups sued the agency. Yee Huang explained in this space why the plan could be a huge step toward cleaning Florida's waters, and could help set a precedent for other states.
Affected industries and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have lobbied hard against the EPA plan. The White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs hosted a meeting on the issue back in January, and another meeting in late October (Greenwire reported a second recent meeting, with environmental groups, though it is not currently listed on the OIRA website).
The EPA went ahead with announcing the plan today. It did say that the standards won't take effect for 15 months, and it will "work closely with the state to determine the next steps to achieve the objectives of the standards." The environmental groups that have worked the issue put out a joint statement today lauding the EPA's announcement.
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Ben Somberg | November 15, 2010
The EPA announced this morning that it has finalized numeric nutrient criteria for Florida waters — specific limits on the amounts of nutrient pollutants allowed in the state’s water bodies. These criteria will in turn limit discharges by point and non-point sources. Currently, nutrient limits are set only by “narrative” water quality standards — which […]
James Goodwin | November 11, 2010
Late last month, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) posted on its website a document called Agency Checklist: Regulatory Impact Analysis, which, according to the document, is intended to assist federal regulatory agencies with Executive Order 12866-required cost-benefit analyses (CBAs). Such analyses have become a standard, if fatally flawed, stage in the […]
Matt Shudtz | November 10, 2010
Every year, OSHA mails a letter to about 15,000 employers who run high-hazard worksites, warning them that their most recent annual injury and illness rates were well above average. According to OSHA, For every 100 full-time workers, the 15,000 employers had 4.5 or more injuries or illnesses which resulted in days away from work, restricted work […]
Lena Pons | November 9, 2010
A new CPR white paper released today evaluates EPA’s performance in improving its database of human health information on toxic substances. The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) contains “profiles” with bottom-line health effects information for 540 substances; federal regulators, as well as state and local governments and regulated industry itself, rely on the assessments to make […]
Ben Somberg | November 8, 2010
In a post the other week, Celeste Monforton at The Pump Handle gives a great example of health/safety protection being evaluated the wrong way (“Contractor racks up mine safety violations and unpaid penalties, also wins safety awards.”) Monforton points to a large construction company that seems to be collecting safety awards while simultaneously being cited […]
Yee Huang | November 4, 2010
Today CPR President Rena Steinzor and I submitted comments to EPA and each Chesapeake Bay Watershed jurisdiction regarding their draft Phase I Watershed Implementation Plans. The states, we find, need to improve their plans significantly. After more than 20 years of haplessly stumbling toward restoration, often in fits and starts, EPA and the Bay jurisdictions—Delaware, […]
Rena Steinzor | November 4, 2010
There’s a lot of punditry left to be committed about whether and how the GOP majority in the House and the enhanced GOP minority in the Senate will work with the Obama Administration. I’m not optimistic. But even if the President and House Republicans are able to find some small patch of common ground, the […]
Catherine O'Neill | November 3, 2010
Economics professors at two major universities just issued their reviews of industry-funded assessments of the costs of EPA’s proposed boiler rule (via NRDC). The professors’ conclusions: “the methodology is fundamentally flawed;” “the resulting estimates of job losses are completely invalid;” “the results reported are useless;” “if I were grading this, I would give it an F.” These […]
Ben Somberg | November 3, 2010
Tomorrow, Thursday, the American Constitution Society will host a midday panel discussion about the issues and ideas presented in Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental Law and the Search for Objectivity, by CPR Member Scholar Douglas A. Kysar. The panel includes CPR Board Member Amy Sinden. Drawing insight from a diverse array of sources, including moral philosophy, […]