Phosphate Action Plan
Adopted July 9, 2002 by the Charlotte County Commission
Objective:
Offset the historic impacts of phosphate mining in the Peace River Basin and protect the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor from new phosphate mining impact.
Implementation Strategies
* The plan calls for the combination of Non-Litigation Initiatives and Litigation Initiatives to achieve the objective.
* The Non Litigation Initiatives consist of a mix of constitutional, legislative, regulatory, negotiation and structural actions.
* The Litigation Initiatives represent a list of the pending mining permits and other related approvals of which Charlotte County is currently aware and the options available to contest these permits and approvals administratively and judicially.
Non-Litigation Initiatives
* Constitutional Initiative
* Legislative Initiatives
a. Persuade the Florida Legislature to create a trust fund administered by the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program to pay for water supply restoration and enhancement in the Peace River Basin.
b. Persuade the Florida Legislature to remove statutory provisions favoring phosphate mining.
c. Persuade the Florida Legislature to require the review of all phosphate mining related permits at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's district offices and bureaus, rather than the Bureau of Mining Reclamation.
d. Persuade the Florida Legislature to require the Southwest Florida Water Management District to establish minimum flows and levels for all of the Peace River by the end of 2003.
e. Persuade the Florida Legislature to direct the Southwest Florida Water Management District to conduct an independent cumulative impact analysis on the effect of phosphate mining within the Peace River Basin.
* Rule-making Initiatives
a. Persuade the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to amend the reclamation standards in Florida Administrative Code Chapter 62C-16 to require the phosphate industry to augment post-reclamation flow in the Peace River.
b. Persuade the Southwest Florida Water Management District to expeditiously adopt minimum flows and levels for the Peace River Basin.
c. Persuade the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to adopt a rule replacing the non-rule, hydrologic standard (known as the 85 percent rule) previously utilized by the DEP to evaluate the impact of phosphate mining projects.
d. Persuade the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to designate Horse Creek and all of its tributaries as Class I waters and Outstanding Florida Waters.
e. Participate in the Uniform Wetland Assessment Method Rule-making Process to ensure that there are no exemptions for the phosphate industry.
* Federal Option
Persuade the Office of the President, the President's Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to have the Corps prepare an area-wide Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for phosphate mining in the Peace River Basin.
* Negotiation Option
a. Participate in settlement discussions with the phosphate industry sponsored by the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority.
b. Convene a summit of representatives from the phosphate industry, the regulatory agencies, local governments and other interested parties for the purpose of developing a consensus plan for restoring and protecting the Peace River watershed.
* Structural Initiative
Explore structural solutions such as reservoirs, water preservation areas, etc., which would restore and preserve the volume, frequency and duration of flow, water quality and environmentally sensitive habitat in the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor.
Litigation Strategies
* New phosphate mines or mining projects
a. Manson Jenkins Project
b. Altman Project
c. Ona Mine
d. Farmland Hydro Project
* State Court Actions
Persuade the Southwest Florida Water Management District to require IMC to obtain a "works for the district" permit before proceeding with the Manson Jenkins, Altman and Ona projects.
Staff Report
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