A consent decree settled a 2008 lawsuit by the Sierra Club, Florida Wildlife Federation and others against the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to get the E.P.A. to set numeric standards for runoff like fertilizers and animal waste. The settlement is the first time the agency has forced numeric limits on nutrient runoff on a state. Environmentalists say rain sends the runoff into rivers and lakes, nourishing algae blooms that poison ecosystems. Under the settlement, the agency has until Jan. 14 to propose the new pollution limits for Florida’s lakes, rivers and creeks, and until October 2010 to make the rules final.