Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen • November 2017 | Page 11
via News Service
of Florida
A second appeals court
has cleared the way
for legal challenges to
controversial water-quality
standards approved
last year by a state
environmental commission.
A panel of the 3rd District
Court of Appeal on
Wednesday sided with the
Seminole Tribe of Florida
and the city of Miami,
which had challenges
to the standards tossed
out by an administrative
law judge who ruled that
they had not met a legal
deadline. Wednesday’s
three-page decision
reversed the administrative
law judge’s ruling, allowing
the challenges to proceed.
The decision cited a similar
reversal in July by the 1st
District Court of Appeal,
which said Florida Pulp
and Paper Association
Environmental, Inc., should
be able to pursue its
challenge to the water-
quality standards. The 3rd
District Court of Appeal
judges wrote that they
“agree with and adopt our
sister court’s well-reasoned
opinion.” The standards,
which were developed by
the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection
and approved in July 2016
by the state Environmental
Regulation Commission,
were highly controversial.
They involved new and
revised limits on chemicals
in waterways, with the
department saying the
plan would allow it to
regulate more chemicals
while updating standards
for others. The pulp-and-
paper industry group, the
Seminole Tribe and the city
of Miami filed challenges
in the state Division of
Administrative Hearings,
contending, for example,
that state officials had
relied on a flawed scientific
methodology in drawing
up the standards.
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