FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2023
Contacts: Ryan Smart, smart@floridaspringscouncil.org, 561–358–7191
Bob Palmer, rpa711@yahoo.com, 352–371–4093
John Thomas, jrthomasesq@gmail.com, 727–692–4384

**PRESS RELEASE**

1st DCA rules for Springs Groups in BMAP Case

After a four–year legal battle, FDEP must rewrite Outstanding Florida Springs
Basin Management Action Plans to comply with state law.

Tallahassee, FL—On Wednesday, February 15, 2023, a three–judge panel of the Florida 1st
District Court of Appeals reversed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP),
ruling that FDEP violated Florida law by not allocating the pollutant load to categories of non–
point sources when drafting Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs) for 13 impaired
Outstanding Florida Springs (OFS).

This victory is the result of a four–year legal battle by the Florida Springs Council, Sierra Club
Florida, Save the Manatee Club, Our Santa Fe River, Ichetucknee Alliance, Silver Springs
Alliance, Friends of the Wekiva River, and individual petitioners Jim Tatum, Tom Greenhalgh,
and Paul Still. The ruling forces DEP to immediately draft new, effective BMAPs for the
Outstanding Florida Springs of the Suwannee River, Santa Fe River, and Ichetucknee River, as
well as Rainbow Springs, Silver Springs, and Volusia Springs. Additionally, FDEP will have to
comply with this ruling when updating the remaining OFS BMAPs.

“While we celebrate this victory, let’s not forget that it never should have been necessary to fight
in the first place. We should be able to trust our state agencies to follow the law. And we should
be able to trust the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to protect the environment,
not polluters. DEP owes an explanation to the Legislature, the petitioners, and the people of
Florida,” says Florida Springs Council Executive Director Ryan Smart.

John Thomas, lead attorney for the petitioners, says, “The issue is about accountability and
transparency to the people and the Legislature. To be effective and have any teeth, BMAPs have
to show who’s causing the most pollution, where polluters or the State need to do more, and how
much reduction is needed. That’s what the ruling requires.”

“With this court decision, the ball is now in FDEP’s court to obey the law and promptly produce
BMAPs that will actually lead to springs restoration by 2038,” says Florida Springs Council
Treasurer Bob Palmer. “We will not be amused if DEP concludes that they can’t meet the intent of the legislature because they lack the will to fix our springs. The Florida Springs Council wrote
a ‘Better BMAP’ last year that would clean up the Santa Fe River springs. If our little non–
profit can figure this problem out, surely an agency with a budget of over $2 billion can figure it
out.”

Michael McGrath, Sierra Club Florida Lead Organizer added, “The Court’s ruling makes it
crystal clear that FDEP’s current BMAP program is a failure. We can’t continue to throw
taxpayer money at projects when it is stopping pollution at its source—regulation—that we
desperately need. It is time for Governor DeSantis’s DEP to stop fighting this and give us
BMAPs that put our springs on the fast road to recovery.”

Kim Dinkins, Senior Conservation Associate for Save the Manatee Club says, “The ruling is a
huge win for Florida’s springs and its manatees. Unfortunately, the 4 years we have spent
fighting the ineffective BMAPs has resulted in not only delaying improvements, but in some
cases, worsening water quality. Healthy springs are vitally important for manatees and for the
people of Florida. As we have seen along the east coast of Florida, ineffective water quality
controls can result in devastating ecosystem collapse and unprecedented, yet wholly preventable
manatee deaths. We’re hopeful that this ruling will help turn the tide for springs before it’s too
late.”

“It’s definitely a new day with this court judgement in favor of Florida’s springs. DEP must act
urgently to reduce nutrient loads in the Santa Fe by enforcing appropriate allocations for each
land use,” says Our Santa Fe River Director Merrillee Malwitz–Jipson.

John Jopling, President of Ichetucknee Alliance says, “We are grateful for the critical backing of
the Florida Springs Council, for the commitment of the other plaintiffs, and for the financial
contributions of the many Floridians that enabled this case to go forward. This is an important
win not only for the Ichetucknee but also for all of Florida’s freshwater springs.”

The Ruling:

As part of the BMAP process, FDEP is required to meet water quality goals by allocating the
necessary nitrogen load reductions to categories of pollution sources like agriculture, septic
tanks, and urban fertilizer. Without these allocations it is impossible to hold polluters
accountable. FDEP failed to include these allocations in the BMAPs for Outstanding Florida
Springs and argued that they met the requirement by including estimates of current pollution
loading. This was only one of numerous legal deficiencies in the OFS BMAPs, all of which
benefited polluters.

The 1st DCA sided with environmentalists challenging the BMAPs, writing, “The BMAPs for
Outstanding Florida Springs must also include “[a]n estimated allocation of the pollutant load . . .
for each point source or category of nonpoint sources.” § 373.807(1)(b)7., Fla. Stat. However, the pie charts included in the BMAPs only show current estimated nitrogen loading in the
various springsheds by source. There is no ‘allocation of the pollutant load’ as required by
section 373.807(1)(b)7., or put another way, allocation of the necessary load reductions to meet
the TMDL.”

Background:

In January of 2019, seven Florida Springs Council member organizations and three individuals
challenged the ineffective springs BMAPs arguing that the plans did not meet the minimum
requirements under law.

For four years the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) took the side of
polluters in court. DEP argued that the BMAPs did not need to actually achieve water quality
goals, only have a “target” for doing so, that they did not need to assign pollution reductions to
categories of non–point sources, and that they did not need to offset the inevitable increases in
pollution from future growth in both population and agriculture.

After a seven–day hearing in 2019, an Administrative Law Judge ruled on behalf of DEP,
upholding the flawed BMAPs. But, thanks to our members, volunteers, and legal team, the
Florida Springs Council had the resources to appeal the ruling to the 1st District Court of
Appeals and secure this major victory for Florida’s springs.

The petitioners were represented by attorneys John Thomas, Douglas MacLaughlin, Anne
Harvey, and Terrell Arline. Expert witnesses Bob Knight, Tom Greenhalgh, Anthony Gaudio,
and Allen Stewart gave important testimony during the initial Hearing. FSC Board Members,
especially Bob Palmer, Mike Cliburn, and Burt Eno, contributed hundreds of hours in volunteer
time working with the legal team.

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