Outrage Over FDEP 'Copy and Paste' Rulemaking
OCALA, FL—On Monday, March 21, 2022, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) held its first public workshop in more than five years related to proposed rules 62-41.400, 62-41.401, and 62-41.402 to implement 373.219(3) F.S., preventing groundwater withdrawals that are harmful to Outstanding Florida Springs. Since 2016, FDEP has ignored a requirement in state law to adopt new rules to protect Outstanding Florida Springs, but completed rulemaking to benefit large water users and developers.
Florida Springs Council (FSC) Executive Director Ryan Smart urged the FDEP to scrap the proposed rule and start over because FDEP’s “new” draft rule to prevent harm isn’t new at all. After six years, FDEP copied and pasted the permitting rules to prevent harm in place since 2014 for all consumptive use permits across the St. Johns River Water Management District, Suwannee River Water Management District, Northwest Florida Water Management District, and Southwest Florida Water Management Districts and pretended it was a new rule.
For the past five years FDEP has delayed rulemaking by filing a “notice of extension” claiming that, “The Department needs additional time to further develop and solicit public comment on the rules associated with this rulemaking effort.” However, at Monday’s workshop FDEP representatives were unable to name even one person or group they spoke to during those five years.
When the Department failed to acknowledge the farcical nature of their proposed draft rule at the workshop, FSC immediately sent a letter to FDEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton opposing the draft rule and proffering an alternative that would protect Florida’s Outstanding Florida Springs, something FDEP has failed, over and over again, to accomplish. Secretary Hamilton may not be responsible for his agency’s delays before he was appointed, but he is responsible for FDEP's actions now.
“No one who has been paying attention for the past ten years expected FDEP to take meaningful action to protect Florida’s environment, even when told to do so directly by the Legislature,” says FSC executive director Ryan Smart. “At a minimum, however, we should expect our state agencies to be honest and competent. FDEP intentionally ignored the law and knowingly misled the people of Florida for more than five years. We deserve better.”
Cris Costello, Sierra Club Senior Organizing Manager, said: “Sierra Club Florida fully endorses both the FSC letter and the FSC draft rule.” Costello added: “Per statute requirements FDEP needs to make a new rule to protect Outstanding Florida Springs, but the Department has no intention of actually doing anything to protect them, so they copy and paste everything that has never worked in the past and call it a new rule. It is a prime example of DeSantis greenwashing, but with exponentially more dangerous implications. In this case it isn’t ‘let’s talk about the problem but never do anything about it,’ rather it is ‘let’s make a rule to kill the state’s most endangered springs and call it protection.’’
FSC Board Member Bob Palmer noted, “Six years ago, the legislature made it clear when it adopted SB 552 that it expected DEP to expeditiously come up with a stricter standard for assessing how water withdrawals would affect Florida’s springs. This recycled language clearly provides no enhanced protection. Will the legislature notice that its law is being ignored? Will it care? This sad episode is a test of whether we have a legislature that is serious about protecting the environment.”
“FDEP’s draft rule is worse for Florida’s springs than if there was no rule,” said Michael McGrath, Sierra Club Organizing Representative.
“The people of Florida have demanded, repeatedly, that the Legislature and Governor must do everything in their power to protect our springs from pollution and over-pumping. Governor DeSantis and the Department of Environmental Protection should flush their draft rule down the toilet and try again, because it fails to meet that demand. We're thankful for smart, science-based partners like the Florida Springs Council who have offered a more protective and commonsense alternative. We urge the Governor to take it seriously,” said Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director, Florida Conservation Voters.
March 21, 2022 letter
Background:
On January 21, 2016, Governor Rick Scott signed into law Senate Bill 552 which amended section 373.219 F.S. by adding a new subsection (3) requiring the Department to adopt: (a) rules for issuing permits which prevent groundwater withdrawals that are harmful to Outstanding Florida Springs; and (b) a uniform definition for “harmful to the water resources.”
Despite legislative findings in SB 552 that “action is urgently needed,” for more than six years the Department disregarded the law. It asked for delay after delay under the dubious reasoning that “the department needs additional time to further develop and solicit public comments on the rules associated with this rulemaking effort.”
On October 15, 2021, Florida Springs Council, Matanzas Riverkeeper, Sierra Club Florida, and St. Johns Riverkeeper raised this issue as a top priority in a letter sent to FDEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton.
More than six years after SB 552 was signed into law, the Department finally released the draft proposed rules for 62-41.400, 62-41.401, and 62-41.402 on March 11, 2022.
CONTACTS:
Ryan Smart, Florida Springs Council smart@floridaspringscouncil.org, 561-358-7191
Bob Palmer, Florida Springs Council rpa711@yahoo.com, 352-371-4093
Cris Costello, Florida Sierra Club cris.costello@sierraclub.org, 941-914-0421