Miami federal judge to Rick Scott: EPA to enforce Everglades pollution rules

[seafan]

In Florida news from April 22 was this outrage by our Medicare fraudster Governor.

FL Governor Rick Scott to EPA: Water guidelines aren’t necessary here

In one of his first actions in office, (Scott) suspended all new ruling making and, in a letter this month, urged the EPA to rescind the nutrient criteria. Industry and farming interests, backed by municipal utilities, have mounted a major lobbying campaign against the EPA standards, saying they would cost billions — an argument dismissed as hype by the federal agency and environmental groups. ---Link

But yesterday, a federal judge in Miami slapped Scott down. It's about time somebody did:



Judge wants EPA to enforce Everglades pollution rules

April 26, 2011


By Curtis Morgan

Aiming a legal shot directly across the bow of Gov. Rick Scott’s anti-regulation agenda, a Miami federal judge on Tuesday cleared the way for the federal government to do something he contends the state has failed to do for decades: Enforce water pollution standards tough enough to protect the Everglades.

In the latest in a string of blistering rulings, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold reiterated frustration at repeated delays and “disingenuous” legal maneuvers by state lawmakers and agencies he charged have weakened rules intended to reduce the flow of phosphorus into the River of Grass.

“Protection of the Everglades requires a major commitment which cannot be simply pushed aside in the face of financial hardships, political opposition, or other excuses,’’ Gold wrote. “These obstacles will always exist, but the Everglades will not — especially if the protracted pace of preservation efforts continues at the current pace.”

Specifically, Gold’s order would strip authority from the state to issue critical pollution discharge permits for the state’s $1.2 billion network of nutrient-scrubbing marshes and give it to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That may sound minor but it potentially has major implication in ongoing, high-stakes legal battles between the state and the federal government over setting the bar for what level of damaging nutrients can be released , not only in the Everglades but in lakes, streams and coastal waters statewide — at least if his ruling stands up on appeal.

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More in the Florida Independent from Judge Gold's ruling:


April 26, 2011

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“What … is clear is that the State of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District (‘SFWMD’), notwithstanding protests to the contrary, have not been true stewards of protecting the Everglades in recent years,” reads Gold’s ruling.

In a press release, the environmental group Friends of the Everglades said that this failure is a direct result of state environmental agencies siding with industry instead of looking out for the environment they are charged with protecting:

This has been called the “race to the bottom” where State’s compete with each other to have the worst water quality thereby making it make it cheaper for polluters to do business in the state. This was why Congress passed these national environmental laws in the first place. To stop the race to the bottom.

Florida political officials, including Governor Rick Scott, appear blinded to the fact that the State itself is substantially to blame for the decades of accumulated costs, for failure to require the polluter to pay. Friends agrees that EPA, rejuvenated under President Obama, can step in decisively. We deplore the efforts by polluters to hobble the only federal agency with the authority and mandate to fix what is wrong with the Everglades.

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“I could not have said it clearer in my April 14, 2010 Order that I enjoined FDEP from certain conduct and required the EPA to direct FDEP to undertake certain processes to achieve compliance with the water quality standards under the Clean Water Act,” wrote Gold. “I unequivocally ordered the EPA to direct the State to take specific action. The State’s response was to assert that it cannot take the action as required and thus, to fail to fully comply with my prior Orders. Accordingly, now I must further use the equitable inherent powers as described infra and in my prior orders to put into the EPA’s hands the steps to move forward.”

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From Bloomberg:

April 27, 2011

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The cleanup plan required the state to take actions to reduce concentrations of phosphorous in the Everglades. It was developed as part of a 1992 agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. against Florida in 1988 for failure to enforce water-quality standards, Gold said in his ruling.

“The primary purpose of this latest order is to put into the hands of the EPA all the resources necessary to enforce its action plan and to implement its full power under the congressional Clean Water Act,” Gold wrote.

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The Florida Environmental Protection Department was disappointed by the ruling giving the U.S. EPA “permitting authority, essentially federalizing Florida’s Everglades restoration permitting process,” said Jennifer Diaz, a spokeswoman for the agency, in an e-mailed statement.

The Florida agency is “vigorously pursuing” its appeal in the case, Diaz said.

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The habitats of Everglades birds, reptiles and plant life have been altered by a network of drainage canals that interrupt the natural water flow and from fertilizer runoff from agriculture. The mix of salt and fresh water where the Everglades meets the sea provides the world’s sole habitat where alligators and crocodiles exist together.

And look who is also responsible for this failure to protect the Everglades.

Jeb Bush.


Gov. Bush urges end to U.S. oversight of Everglades cleanup

Palm Beach Post
February 03, 2006

Gov. Jeb Bush is lobbying to end federal court oversight of the state's Everglades cleanup, a move that would take the $1.1 billion project out of the hands of a judge who has accused Florida of violating its promises, according to a government official and others familiar with the case.
If the Justice Department and other federal agencies agree, Bush's intervention could lead to the end of the landmark 14-year-old court order that required Florida to begin cleansing the Everglades.

The state also would have to persuade the judge. And it is seeking the cooperation of the Miccosukee Indians, the state's most aggressive opponent in an array of Everglades pollution cases.
Bush's efforts, including a Jan. 27 meeting with federal leaders next door to the White House, have alarmed environmentalists, who don't trust the state to finish the project without supervision. Congressional budget leaders also have warned the governor's brother, President Bush, that "backsliding" on the cleanup would jeopardize federal spending on a larger $10.5 billion Everglades restoration.

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The governor went to Washington last week "to talk about the fact that we're getting no credit for all of the accomplishments we've made regarding the Everglades," said Colleen Castille, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection. "We believe the law is clear as to what standards we are supposed to meet.... We have been meeting that."

Castille said she could not discuss the lawsuit specifically and would not confirm whether the governor is seeking to end the 1992 court order. But a federal official familiar with the talks said the governor has pressed that request during months of meetings with representatives from the Justice and Interior departments, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House, including the office of senior presidential adviser Karl Rove.

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Also referenced in that article is a law Jeb Bush signed in 2003, 'championed by the sugar industry, that postponed enforcement of specific pollution limits in the Everglades until 2016.'


And the money quote from that old article:

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"The (state's) reaction wasn't 'Let's go out and fix it,' " said one person familiar with the lawsuit. "The reaction was 'Let's get rid of this thing and get rid of the judge.' "

That is, in a nutshell, the Jeb Bush Way.

Get rid of the Judge on the Everglades Restoration. Get rid of the Legally Cast Votes. Get rid of those who might Vote For A Democrat. Get rid of Public Education. Get rid of Tax Revenue. Get rid of Regulations. Get rid of those Pesky Environmentalists. Get rid of those Greedy Schoolteachers and their Unions.



And Jeb's little apprentice chimed in, two days ago:


Marco Rubio Cheers Rick Scott's Fight with the EPA Over Water Standards

April 25, 2011

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said on Monday that he had fellow Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s back in the state’s dispute with the federal EPA on water standards.

“The EPA’s numeric nutrient regulations for Florida unjustifiably single out our state, place costly regulations on job creators, and put us at a competitive disadvantage with other states,” said Rubio. “In sum, the EPA’s numeric nutrient regulations destroy Florida jobs by raising the costs of doing business without so much as considering the regulatory efforts already in place and currently being pursued by the state.

“I applaud Governor Scott’s efforts on this issue and those undertaken by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to strike the appropriate balance to ensure that Florida's water is as clean as possible without unnecessarily hurting families, businesses and farmers,” added Rubio. “While I will continue working with my colleagues in Washington to prevent this EPA power grab from ruining Florida’s economy and preventing its expansion into other states, I urge the EPA to honor this petition and work with Florida’s officials to accomplish the dual goals of a vibrant economy and clean environment.”

How'm I doing, Daddy?






These people are beyond disgust.



Unfortunately for them, they've gone and p#**@% off a federal judge.


We've been waiting for this.

[spanone]

1. k&r..

[Scurrilous]

2. K & R

:thumbsup:

[DCKit]

3. Well done. Off to the greatest with you. nt

[TomCADem]

4. K&R!

[Hannah Bell]

5. kr