The Florida Department of Environmental Protection filed a proposed rule Tuesday for how the state should oversee the pumping of groundwater from Florida’s most vulnerable freshwater springs, a process regulated through consumptive use permits, or CUPs.
The move comes just in time to meet the state agency’s deadline to respond to a recent lawsuit filed by the Florida Springs Council. The nonprofit had urged FDEP to finally issue a proposed rule for better protecting Florida springs, nearly nine years after the passage of a state law requiring the state agency to do so: the 2016 Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act.
Previous ideas FDEP had for protecting Florida springs never advanced past the draft rule stage, where they were unchallengeable. Now that it’s in proposal form, the rule can be challenged.
Within 21 days, anyone can request a hearing to discuss the proposed rule, to be held on a predetermined date; if nobody requests a hearing, there won’t be one.
More information on that hearing is below, from the text of the proposed rule:
Date/time of said hearing:
- January 6, 2025 starting at 9:00 a.m.
- Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building, Room 137, 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, Tallahassee, FL, 32399-3000
Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. Persons who require special accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) or persons who require translation services (free of charge) are asked to contact DEP’s Limited English Proficiency Coordinator at (850)245-2118 or LEP@FloridaDEP.gov at least ten (10) days before the hearing within 10 days of publication of this notice. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, (800)955-8771 (TDD) or (800)955-8770 (voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: James C. Albright Environmental Administrator. OWP_Rulemaking@FloridaDEP.gov
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