We all regret how the business
of government gets transacted in Tallahassee.
It’s not just ugly. It’s dangerous,
and throws into question such simple things that most of us strive for in this great
country of ours as fairness, truth, honesty, and just doing the right
thing. Well, it’s happening again, right
now, and you need to know about it, be disgusted and outraged about it, and be juiced
up enough to do something you might not otherwise do, like call your
legislators and let them know how you feel.
It’s time.
There’s a Tallahassee phenomenon
that has seemingly become legislative protocol, i.e., culturally
imbedded. It’s a terrible thing called a “train.”
A train is when
“ … a compendium of
every lobbyist's dream amendments, all strung together as if they were one real
piece of solid legislation, comes barreling into Tallahassee as an
“environmental train” bill. Pressure builds for passage as each lobbyist gets
their special little amendment onboard the train….and it gathers steam. The
problem with these runaway bills is that each of the components represents a
serious issue, and should be heard as separate bills in their proper committees.
By combining these issues into a single train it is nearly impossible for
public interest groups to be experts on and properly address the wide array of
concerns. This years' train, sponsored
by Representative Patronis and Senator
Altman, is leaving the station …” (FCC publication)
This
year’s “train bills” are SB 1684 and HB 999 and, if passed, they will have a
devastating impact on this state’s ability to effectively manage and protect
what’s left of its natural environment and related water resources.
This is not internet hyperbole. It is happening and only you can do something
about it. Here was the situation as of April 1st as described by the
FCC:
Senate Bill 1684 by Senator Thad Altman is a
smorgasbord of proposed legislation that would weaken current environmental law
in many ways and diminish environmental protections. The House companion
bill, HB 999 by Representative Jimmy
Patronis was recently amended and is even worse than SB 1684.
SB 1684 is very long with
over 18 sections, all bad. Here is a brief summary of the
bill:
·
This is an
environmentally insensitive bill that creates, amends, and deletes
environmental permitting regulations across a wide spectrum of areas.
·
Contains sections
which
o
restrict
County and City requests for additional information for development permits,
o
eliminates
the requirement that public marinas attain Clean Program Marina status in order
to be exempt from review as developments of regional impact,
o
instructs
water management district (WMD) governing boards on how to rule in cases of
competing Consumptive Use Permits (CUP),
o
prohibits
WMD from reducing an existing CUP because of the availability of water from a
desalination plant,
o
eliminates
the ability of counties to regulate water wells,
o
restricts
sampling and testing for water quality standards,
o
rescinds the
ability of DEP and WMD to require that applications and other technical work be
produced under the seal of a licensed professional, and
o
provides for
expedited permitting for projects to construct natural gas pipelines.
o
both HB 999
and SB 1684 are inconsistent with the outcome of stakeholder negotiations on
Senate Bill 948, the agricultural water supply planning bill.
On April 2, SB 1684, was heard
and passed unanimously out of the Senate’s Environmental Preservation and
Conservation Committee. Please note that
Charlie Dean from Citrus County is the committee chair and Jack Latvala, a
prominent senate leader from Pinellas County, voted for the bill (See a list of
all Senators on the committee HERE). For a while, I thought these two guys just
might be on the side of natural Florida.
That notion appears to have been premature. True colors are bleeding through.
On April 5, the FCC issued an
alert summarizing the bills and asking for people concerned about Florida and
its future to take action:
We need your help. The terrible
“environmental train” we wrote you about earlier this week has gotten even
worse. These Bills, moving quickly through the House and Senate, seek to change
over 25 environmental regulations affecting water management, air quality,
environmental resource permitting, development permitting and more.
·
This week,
not only was Senate Bill 1684 amended to incorporate many of the
worst parts of House Bill 999, including a new amendment that strikes a major blow against
sound resource management and water conservation.
This new amendment to the Senate
Bill, eliminates the existing authority of water management districts and the
Department of Environmental Protection to reduce groundwater allocations
because of the availability of water from a drought resistance source (such as
desalination, reclaimed water, aquifer storage and recovery, etc.) ; unwisely
restricting their ability to review and modify permits to assure that water
continues to be used in the public interest. The result would allow those
wealthier counties and landowners who can afford to build desalination plants
or reservoirs to "bank" natural sources of water and become the major
suppliers in their areas. Conservation of precious groundwater continues
to be ignored. The FCC will continue to vigorously protest these blatant
attempts at privatization. These changes go against the result of months of
work by stakeholder groups on related subjects during the Department of
Environmental Protections Consumptive Use rulemaking. We have heard that the
Department is trying to "negotiate" this one. We must also let them
know that this will not do, they should hold their ground.
·
Another of
the most harmful of the many special interest giveaways in these bills is a
section restricting the ability of the Department of Environmental Protection
to regulate waters courses and wetlands as part of environmental resource
permitting.
By defining “mean annual flood
line” in a way that excludes currently regulated areas this section, being
pushed by a major phosphate mining company, would reduce the area covered under
environmental resource permits, leading to unmitigated habitat damage in and
around our precious wetlands.
This action is nothing more
than a continuation of the mindless servitude the legislature and governor gleefully
pay to the monied special interests who are shamelessly and arrogantly pouring
tens of millions into re-election coffers even as these bills are being considered. If this isn’t blatant political graft by our
elected leaders to proffer their votes, nothing is.
Now, please get on the phone
and email (both) and let your legislators and governor know how much you abhor what
they are doing and how they are doing it.
You can find how to reach
your Senator HERE and your Representative
HERE.
Bless you, Sonny!!! I would sign my name to this and other posts, but I want to keep my WMD job.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be no connection between economic development and environmental damage. The R's see growth management as an obstacle because they don't have a clue about what quality growth will do for the environment and the economy. If the growth the Rs are pushing is more of the same (low income housing including more trailers) then kiss the environment and economy adios.
ReplyDeleteKeep on preaching. I admire your word skills and your comfort in telling it like it is.
ReplyDeleteJust rejected a comment by accident. Will add back when I can get to a computer. Can't do it with my android. Sandspur
ReplyDelete