Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 9349 |
| Work Detail | Lawyers for the Seminole Tribe, Martin County, the city of Miami and the pulp and paper industry told an administrative law judge Wednesday that Florida rushed through new, very complex criteria for more than 80 water toxins without properly notifying the public. But the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's lawyers say the legal challenge to the state's new water toxins criteria ought to be tossed out because the Seminoles and other petitioners missed the deadline for petitioning for an administrative hearing on the new rules. In response to DEP's motion to dismiss the case, Wednesday's arguments focused on who filed what, when and how, whether DEP properly notified the public throughout the rule-making process, and whether petitioners met various deadlines for challenging the rule. Wednesday's arguments did not address the substance of the new water toxin criteria, but whether the case should move forward. Administrative Law Judge Bram Canter's decision is expected within a few days. The deadline to petition for an administrative hearing on the new water toxin rule was 5 p.m. Aug. 5, DEP says, 10 days after the Environmental Regulation Commission passed the rule during a July 26 hearing. The Seminole Tribe filed its petition Aug. 8, with the city of Miami and others joining later. But the tribe argues that DEP filed a "notice of change/withdraw" entitled a "correction" on Aug. 4 that made significant changes to the rule, which should have extended the deadline. Amy Taylor Petrick, the West Palm Beach attorney representing the Seminole Tribe, said DEP's public notices were incomprehensible and that the agency is trying to "close the door before it ever reasonably opened" for the tribe's rule challenge. "This is a big deal," Petrick added. "They're not going to get their day in court...and that violates due process." The challengers also argued that DEPs public notices were written in ways to obfuscate the consequences of the new water toxin criteria. On July 26, by a 3-2 vote, the state's Environmental Regulation Commission signed off on the new water quality standards for more than 80 toxic chemicals, including benzene, a cancer-causing petroleum byproduct used in hydraulic fracking. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also must approve the new criteria. Last year, EPA had issued recommendations for standards based on more recent science. But conservationists say that in many cases DEP failed to use as strict health criteria as EPA suggests. The state will allow levels higher than EPA guidelines for compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), once widely used in plastics, caulking, transformers, capacitors and other electrical equipment. Production of PCBs was banned in 1979, and EPA calls them "probable human carcinogens." Childhood exposure to PCBs has been linked with reduced IQ and impaired growth and motor skills. "We have not updated these parameters since 1992, it is more good than harm," ERC Commissioner Cari Roth, a Tallahassee lawyer who's ERC seat represents developers, said just before the July 26 vote. "To me it would be far worse to delay." The new criteria could impact the types of chemicals released during hydraulic fracking — if Florida were to approve the practice — oil and gas drilling, by sewer plants, paper and pulp plants, dry cleaning businesses and other industries. Those chemicals can wind up in drinking water and in shrimp, fish and other seafood. The petitioners in their legal filings have argued the public's voice wasn't represented, because two of the seven seats are vacant on the Environmental Regulation Commission. The governor appoints the commissioners but has left the two seats empty. One of the empty seats is designated to represent local governments and the other seat represents the environmental community. The occupied ERC seats represent agriculture, development, a science and technical representative, and two seats are laypersons. "DEP's process in this case has been confusing to say the least.," said Greg Munson, an attorney for the Florida Pulp and Paper Association, a trade group. Attorneys for the city of Miami and Martin County also took issue with how DEP notified the public of the proposed and the final water toxin criteria, which they say was rushed through and confusing. "DEP has failed to properly notice this rule making from the get-go," said Ruth A Holmes, a lawyer from Martin County Attorney's Office. "The only remedy at this point is to withdraw the rule and start over again." Francine M. Ffolkes, an attorney for DEP, said the public had plenty of notice about the new criteria. Since 2012, DEP has held about a dozen public workshops about the changes throughout the state. "This is not a surprise," Ffolkes said in her closing remarks. "This is not something new." |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Water & Sanitation |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2016/09/07/petitioners-state-case-new-florida-water-toxins-rule/89955770/ |
