the Politics of Green; Florida and the Clean Water Act

the Politics of Green; Florida and the Clean Water Act

A meeting will be held at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute on March 31, 2010 to discuss the Federal EPA Clean Water Act.

The meeting is intended to get scientific and public input regarding the nutrient criteria for establishing clean and healthy waters for Florida, and you are invited.

XL Image of Nutrient Enriched waters and Jupiter Inlet (click photo)

DATE AND TIME: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
PLACE: Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, Johnson Education Center Auditorium, 5600 US Highway 1 North, Ft. Pierce, Florida 34946

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local scientists, is embarking on a process to engage those people familiar with Florida’s marine waters in the development of numeric nutrient criteria for estuarine and coastal areas. The primary purpose of numeric nutrient criteria is to protect healthy well-balanced natural populations of flora and fauna from the effects of excess nutrient enrichment. Implementation of these criteria can prevent over-enrichment from occurring, and can be used to identify waters impaired by nutrients in need of restoration. The criteria would also support full recreational use of the State’s predominantly marine waters.

The components of this estuarine/coastal nutrient criteria development process include:

• Engaging local organizations, stakeholders, and experts around the State to generate discussion and exploration of appropriate numeric nutrient criteria;

• Compiling data and scientific support on key ecological attributes and for recommended numeric nutrient criteria where such information is generated and available; and

• Ensuring that such information is accessible to both FDEP and EPA for consideration when moving forward with proposed numeric nutrient criteria.