Federal takeover? Legislators aren't told of Florida's role in water standards battle

Florida legislators who made angry comments about new water quality standards for Florida weren't being told about the state's key involvement in the issue two years ago.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency last November adopted specific limits for nitrogen and phosphorus in Florida waterways. The move came despite objections from utilities, industry and agriculture groups and many state officials.

After a series of presentations on Thursday, members of two House committees lashed out at the EPA for what they view as a federal takeover of water standards.

But those presentations failed to note that it was the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that in January 2009 agreed with the EPA that new standards were needed.

Read more at the Florida Tribune.

(Photo by Chris Williams, GreenWater Laboratories/CyanoLab, provided by environmental groups involved in lawsuit. Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)