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Florida Regulators To Update Water Quality Standards

St. Johns River
Sarah De Nicolais
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Florida’s Environmental Regulation Commission is set to vote Tuesday on new proposed levels of pollutants in surface water.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection isupdating the Human Health Criteria, set in 1992, which includes reclassifying 43chemicals currently regulated in waterways, while adding criteria for 39 new compounds, according to a news release

"Both the new and updated criteria have been calculated using the most advanced science, including recently issued guidance from the EPA," the release stated.

But not everyone believes state regulators have the best interest of the public in mind, said St. JohnsRiverkeeperLisaRinaman.

"Floridians deserve better,"Rinaman said. "There's no reason to increase the number of toxic waste in our waterways except for the bottom line of industry."

The Environmental Regulation Commission meeting will be streamed live on its  website, beginning at 9 a.m.

Copyright 2020 WJCT News 89.9. To see more, visit WJCT News 89.9.

Sarah is a senior studying multimedia journalism at the University of North Florida. She first discovered her passion for journalism and production when she was a teenager at an art school in her hometown of West Palm Beach.