EPA Announces Decision on Florida’s Impaired Waters Rule

EPA has approved the water quality standards portions of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP’s) amended Impaired Waters Rule. This rule establishes a methodology to identify impaired surface waters that will be included on the State’s Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list.

Waters on the 303(d) list require the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to address the impairments. A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant’s sources.

The FDEP submitted its rule to EPA for review and approval, as required by the Clean Water Act. With this action, EPA is approving multiple provisions of the rule that EPA determined are new or revised water quality standards. The new or revised water quality standards are consistent with the requirements of the Clean Water Act and EPA regulations.