AGENDA ITEM REPORT
TITLE:
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A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THE CITY'S OPPOSITION TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION'S WEAKENING OF RESTRICTIONS THAT WOULD ALLOW AN INCREASE IN THE RELEASE OF TOXIC CHEMICALS INTO FLORIDA'S WATERS; URGING THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY NOT TO APPROVE THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION'S NEW RESTRICTIONS; DIRECTING THE APPROPRIATE CITY OFFICIALS TO TAKE ANY AND ALL ACTIONS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE INTENT OF THIS RESOLUTION.
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BACKGROUND:
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is Florida's lead agency for environmental management and has obligations that include protecting Florida's air, water, and land pursuant to Chapter 403, Florida Statutes. On July 26, 2016, the Environmental Regulation Commission voted to approve a proposal from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that would weaken the restrictions on the allowable levels of more than two dozen toxic chemicals that may be released in Florida's lakes, streams, and coastal waters through revisions to Chapters 62-302 and 62-303 of the Florida Administrative Code.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Coconut Creek is committed to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of its residents. The new restrictions proposed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection include increasing the allowable levels of Benzene and Dioxin in Florida's drinking water. Benzene is a cancer-causing petroleum byproduct used in hydraulic fracking and has been known to cause leukemia. Dioxin has been linked to cancer, damage to the skin and liver, and nervous, immune, and reproductive system damage. According to the Miami Herald, environmentalists argue that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's cancer risk measurement would allow for toxin levels that would increase the number of cancer victims to 1 in 100,000 people or in cases of people who eat fish daily, 1 in 10,000, whereas the United States Environmental Protection Agency standards allow for toxin levels that could cause cancer in 1 in a million people. Therefore, the City is opposed to the approval of these restrictions that would enable oil and gas drilling companies (including fracking operations), dry cleaning companies, pulp and paper producers, nuclear plants, wastewater treatment plants, and other waste producers, to increase the amount of cancer-causing toxins that they release in Florida's waterways.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of this Resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT: N/A