Middle St. Johns - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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196 Water Quality Assessment Report: Middle St. Johns Appendix A: Legislative and Regulatory Background on the Watershed Management Approach and the Implementation of TMDLs Federal and State Legislation on Surface Water Quality and TMDLs Clean Water Act Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 with the goal of restoring and maintaining the “chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters” (33 U.S.C. § 1251[a]). The ultimate goal of the act is to eliminate the “discharge of [all] pollutants into navigable waters” (33 U.S.C. § 1251[a][1]). Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act requires states to report biennially to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on their water quality. The 305(b) assessment report provides information on the physical, chemical, biological, and cultural features of each river basin in Florida. This initial assessment provides a common factual basis for identifying information sources and major issues, and for determining the future changes, strategies, and actions needed to preserve, protect, and/or restore water quality. Understanding the physical framework of each basin allows the development of a science-based methodology for assessing water quality and an accurate picture of the waters that are most impaired or vulnerable to contamination. Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires states to submit to the EPA lists of surface waters that do not meet applicable water quality standards and establish total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for each of these waters on a schedule. A pollution limit is then allocated to each pollutant source in an individual river basin. A TMDL represents the maximum amount of a given pollutant that a waterbody can assimilate and meet all of its designated uses (see Noteworthy on Florida’s surface water quality classifications for a listing of these classifications). A waterbody that does not meet its designated use is defined as impaired. NOTEWORTHY: FLORIDA’S SURFACE WATER QUALITY CLASSIFICATIONS Florida’s water quality standards program, the foundation of the state’s program of water quality management, designates the “present and future most beneficial uses” of the waters of the state (Subsection 403.061[10], F.S.). Water quality criteria, expressed as numeric or narrative limits for specific parameters, describe the water quality necessary to maintain these uses for surface water and ground water. Florida’s surface water is protected for five designated use classifications, as follows: Class I Class II Class III Class IV Class V Potable water supplies Shellfish propagation or harvesting Recreation, propagation, and maintenance of a healthy, well-balanced population of fish and wildlife Agricultural water supplies Navigation, utility, and industrial use (there are no state waters currently in this class)
Water Quality Assessment Report: Middle St. Johns 197 Florida Watershed Restoration Act In 1998, the EPA settled a lawsuit with the environmental group Earthjustice over Florida’s TMDL Program. The Consent Decree resulting from the lawsuit requires all TMDLs on the state’s 1998 Section 303(d) list of impaired waters to be developed in thirteen years. If the state fails to develop the TMDLs, the EPA is required to do so. In response to concerns about the TMDL lawsuit and in recognition of the important role that TMDLs play in restoring state waters, the 1999 Florida legislature enacted the Florida Watershed Restoration Act (Chapter 99-223, Laws of Florida). The act clarified the Department’s statutory authority to establish TMDLs, required the Department to develop a methodology for identifying impaired waters, specified that the Department could develop TMDLs only for waters on a future state list of impaired waters developed using this new methodology, and directed the Department to establish an Allocation Technical Advisory Committee to address the allocation process for TMDLs. The act also declared Lake Okeechobee impaired and, as required under the TMDL Consent Decree, allowed the state to develop a TMDL for the lake (see Noteworthy for a description of the legislation’s major provisions). NOTEWORTHY: THE FLORIDA WATERSHED RESTORATION ACT The Florida Watershed Restoration Act contains the following major provisions: • Establishes that the 303(d) list submitted to the EPA in 1998 is for planning purposes only. • Requires the Department to adopt 303(d) listing criteria (that is, the methodology used to define impaired waters) by rule. • Requires the Department to verify impairment and then establish a Verified List for each basin. The Department must also evaluate whether proposed pollution control programs are sufficient to meet water quality standards, list the specific pollutant(s) and concentration(s) causing impairment, and adopt the basin-specific 303(d) list by Secretarial Order. • Requires the Department’s Secretary to adopt TMDL allocations by rule. The legislation requires the Department to establish “reasonable and equitable” allocations of TMDLs, but does not mandate how allocations will be made among individual sources. • Requires that TMDL allocations consider existing treatment levels and management practices; the differing impacts that pollutant sources may have; the availability of treatment technologies, best management practices (BMPs), or other pollutant reduction measures; the feasibility, costs, and benefits of achieving the allocation; reasonable time frames for implementation; the potential applicability of moderating provisions; and the extent that nonattainment is caused by pollutants from outside Florida, discharges that have ceased, or alteration to a waterbody. • Required a report to the legislature by February 2001 addressing the allocation process.
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Middle St. Johns - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

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