Clean-Up By Redefinition

"Florida's environmental bureaucrats are in the process of removing 600 bodies of water from the state's 'impaired' list by changing the rules. They redefined impaired," Palm Beach Post editorial writer Sally Swartz reports. When a lake or river is classified "impaired," explains Swartz, the state is required to set a limit on how much pollution can be dumped into the water. If a body of water isn't on the "impaired" list, there are no limits. Large developers, corporate farms, and other industry would benefit from the redefinition. "Under President Bush, EPA is pushing to turn over enforcement of clean-water standards to states. In the past, the EPA has had to force states to set such standards. Florida lags far behind other Southern states in setting pollution limits ... but probably will become a model if the agencies backed by Gov. Bush and President Bush have their way," Swartz writes.