League of Cities, Stormwater Association Sue EPA Over New Rules

The Florida League of Cities and Florida Stormwater Association are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over new numeric nutrient criteria regulations for Floridas waters.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, asks the federal court to force the EPA to abandon its "unprecedented action against the state."

We all want clean water. However, the EPAs mandates seem like they will do more to harm Floridas local government taxpayers than provide real results, said Rebecca OHara, director of legislative affairs for the League of Cities.

An independent study prepared by Cardno ENTRIX for the Florida Water Quality Coalition projected that compliance costs for city and county wastewater and stormwater treatment systems would increase by at least $1 billion and up to $3 billion per year.