HM 1365

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to encourage the United States Environmental
4	Protection Agency to work closely and collaboratively with
5	the State of Florida to establish numeric nutrient
6	criteria for the state's waters.
7
8	WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
9	determined that the State of Florida's caps on acceptable
10	phosphorus and nitrogen levels in its waters need federal
11	intervention and more stringent standards, even though Florida
12	has one of the most sophisticated water quality standards
13	programs in the nation, and
14	WHEREAS, the agency plans to propose increased numeric
15	nutrient water quality standards for the state's streams,
16	canals, and lakes by January 2010 and the state's coastal waters
17	by January 2011, and
18	WHEREAS, a study commissioned by the Florida Water
19	Environment Association Utility Council estimates that
20	wastewater utilities in the state will spend between $24 billion
21	and $51 billion in capital costs for additional wastewater
22	treatment facilities and incur increases in annual operating
23	costs between $4 million and $1 billion to comply with the
24	proposed federal numeric nutrient criteria, and
25	WHEREAS, the study reports that such increases will cause
26	wastewater utility rates to double on average across the state,
27	placing an undue burden on the state and local governments and
28	may have crippling effects on business development and job
29	creation, and
30	WHEREAS, the members of the Florida Legislature value the
31	health of our waterways but also recognize that the proposed
32	regulatory changes will have severe economic consequences on
33	small businesses, which are the backbone of the state's economy
34	and struggling under the economic recession, and
35	WHEREAS, believing that regulatory changes should be based
36	on reliable, sound scientific data and analysis, the Legislature
37	is concerned that the Environmental Protection Agency's approach
38	in developing numeric nutrient criteria may lead to arbitrary
39	standards that do not consider the data collected and analyses
40	conducted by the state over several years to develop numeric
41	criteria under the Clean Water Act that are based on the best
42	available science and community input, and
43	WHEREAS, utilities in the state have made and are making
44	significant investments in reclaimed water infrastructure based
45	upon existing treatment standards that recognize the beneficial
46	nutrient uptake of plants that are irrigated with reclaimed
47	water and any new numerical standards should include these
48	environmental initiatives, NOW, THEREFORE,
49
50	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
51
52	That the Congress of the United States is urged to
53	encourage the United States Environmental Protection Agency to
54	work closely and collaboratively with the State of Florida to
55	ensure that the numeric nutrient criteria developed for the
56	state are necessary to protect applicable designated uses, based
57	on sound scientific rationale, responsive to the specific needs
58	of the state's waters, responsive to available public and
59	stakeholder input, and sufficient to meet the needs of the water
60	quality management tools available to the state.
61	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
62	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
63	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
64	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
65	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.