“Lax enforcement and compliance for both point and nonpoint sources suggests that the current TMDLs are ineffective at controlling nutrients into the Indian River Lagoon. EPA must therefore reinitiate consultation to consider this new information suggesting that the current TMDLs are not being effectively implemented and that the TMDLs lack reasonable assurances they will achieve load reductions.”
Existing regulations allow for up to 90 days each year of discharges from wastewater treatment plants during heavy rainfall, of up to several million gallons per day, but these are “poorly reported,” Earthjustice says.
Meanwhile, the state has cut back on both the number of inspections of these units and the amounts in fines assessed, which a 2020 Florida Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility report referred to as “the traffic ticket approach.”
