Topic: Environmental Regulation & Permitting

Springs supporters were stymied in efforts to get more money to protect north Florida springs but a powerful ally in the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee secured funding for the Everglades and Indian River Lagoon during the 2014 Legislative Session.

On the final day of the 2014 legislative session, several environmental bills are ready for a vote in the Senate. But in the House, the question remains whether the springs bill passed by the Senate will be heard. "It's got as good a shot as any bill that's coming over from the Senate," House Speaker Will Weatherford said, before mentioning that a two-thirds vote will be needed to hear it on the House floor.

The most controversial growth management bill this year, SB 372 dealing with developments of regional impact, appeared to have died Monday when the Senate Rules Committee temporarily passed it during the committee's final scheduled meeting.

SB 372 deals with "developments of regional impact" and was temporarily passed in a Senate committee on Wednesday. The House companion bill has yet to be heard in committee. "I'm starting to hear the echoes of the death rattle," said its sponsor, Rep. Matt Gaetz. Meanwhile, Rep. Jimmy Patronis said his controversial HB 703 won't be heard this week in the final State Affairs Committee meeting.

SB 1464 was temporarily postponed during the last meeting of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs. "That bill in its current form is dead," said Sen. Wilton Simpson, bill sponsor and committee chairman. The House and Senate bills faced opposition from cities, counties and environmental groups even as controversial elements were being taken out.

Wednesday marks Day 30 of the 2014 legislative session, and lawmakers are tempering their push for many controversial issues during an election year.

HB 703, by Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, would repeal some of the local growth management policies adopted by the Martin County Commission in 2013. In the Palm Beach Post, environmentalist Maggy Hurchalla wrote that Patronis let Florida Crystals write his bill. Patronis and Florida Crystals denied the accusation.

The Senate Environmental Committee removed a prohibition on local wetlands and springs regulations in a comprehensive permitting bill offered by Rep. Patronis and Sen. Simpson.

Patronis said he's dropping a section of the bill that would allow 50-year water use permits for landowners participating in water storage programs. Environmental groups now are calling on legislators to drop the bills. "We're just fed up," said Mary Jean Yon, legislative director for Audubon Florida.

DEP supports bills allowing concessions including "glamping" in aquatic preserves. But environmentalists say the public should have input whenever any novel uses of preserves are considered. "It's all been very vague," said Julie Wraithmell, wildlife policy director for Audubon Florida.

The amendment by Rep. Carey Pigman, R-Sebring, would increase the number of balloons that can be released under state law from 10 to 100 but only for funerals, memorials and church events. "If we object to 100 balloons, then why do we allow a lot of what else happens?" Pigman said.

HB 703 by Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, would extend "right to farm" provisions in state law to prohibit enforcement of local springs and wetlands regulations that also have been modified or readopted since 2003. A revised version of the bill passed its first stop and more changes are expected, Patronis said.

Bills that have passed House and Senate committees would expand liability protection for those doing site cleanups. Meanwhile, some bill supporters are seeking an increase in the Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit for one year to reduce or eliminate what was a $14.7 million backlog of applications in 2013.

State agencies and various interests represented on a steering committee are working on an ambitious statewide plan to protect threatened and endangered species along beaches and avoid delays and legal fights over permitting. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on notice that state permitting is vulnerable to legal challenges under the federal Endangered Species Act.