U.S. EPA announced draft nutrient criteria for Florida

Florida is a long way from the Intermountain West, but what's happening there on nutrient water quality criteria may have ramifications in our rivers and streams.

Under legal pressure, on Friday, January 15 U.S. EPA announced the draft nutrient criteria they've developed for Florida. Read EPA's press release for their take on the proposed criteria. We wrote about this issue in Florida settlement on nutrient criteria has nationwide implications back in November.

Why should we care about Florida's nutrient criteria? Nutrient impairments are a big problem in our region, and yet we're largely in the same boat as Florida -- without numeric nutrient criteria. U.S. EPA stepped in to develop criteria in Florida after Florida dragged its feet on developing numeric criteria. What's happening in Florida should be a wake up call for our states. It should also be investigated for the good and the bad angles as a possible taste of what's to come in our region.

EPA will be accepting public comment for 60 days. You can review EPA's proposal which includes an eco-region approach, a new concept called "restoration standards" for ratcheting down discharge limits in already nutrient impaired waters, a process for developing site-specific standards, and other policy issues of interest to those thinking about how nutrient criteria will be applied.