The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire for its decision to allow the state of Florida to write its own water pollution rules (known as “numeric nutrient criteria”). EPA Regional Administrator Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming is now firing back, writing that the Agency commends the state Department of Environmental

An upcoming Water Supply Summit hosted by the Everglades Foundation will include a “Legislative Briefing Breakfast” and a “Capital Lobby Day,” according to information released by the group.

A bill recently introduced by congressmen from Pennsylvania and Illinois could have a far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 union workers on Aug. 1.

One day after 90 percent of union workers rejected the most recent contract offer by American Crystal Sugar, members of the region’s congressional delegations are calling for both parties to return to the bargaining table.

An article released yesterday in a special agri-business edition of Highlands Today dubs a set of federally mandated water pollution standards “way too extreme for Florida.”

In a Monday court filing, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, Attorney General Pam Bondi and a slew of industry representatives filed their opposition to EPA-mandated water pollution standards for the state. Arguing that “federal intervention was and remains unnecessary,” they ask the court to invalidate the January 2009 determination

Speaking to the state House Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources yesterday, the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Rich Budell continued to express concern with federally mandated water pollution standards. Though the state of Florida is currently in a race to draw up its own rules before the EPA can implement