Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen • November 2017 | Page 11

via News Service of Florida A second appeals court has cleared the way for legal challenges to controversial water-quality standards approved last year by a state environmental commission. A panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal on Wednesday sided with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the city of Miami, which had challenges to the standards tossed out by an administrative law judge who ruled that they had not met a legal deadline. Wednesday’s three-page decision reversed the administrative law judge’s ruling, allowing the challenges to proceed. The decision cited a similar reversal in July by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which said Florida Pulp and Paper Association Environmental, Inc., should be able to pursue its challenge to the water- quality standards. The 3rd District Court of Appeal judges wrote that they “agree with and adopt our sister court’s well-reasoned opinion.” The standards, which were developed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and approved in July 2016 by the state Environmental Regulation Commission, were highly controversial. They involved new and revised limits on chemicals in waterways, with the department saying the plan would allow it to regulate more chemicals while updating standards for others. The pulp-and- paper industry group, the Seminole Tribe and the city of Miami filed challenges in the state Division of Administrative Hearings, contending, for example, that state officials had relied on a flawed scientific methodology in drawing up the standards. • • •