Update!       Florida Forever Funding HB5001/ SB2900 
Budget Conference Committees have concluded their negotiations and continue to include $300 million in Florida Forever funding in next year's budget. (The Senate had previously provided for the $300 million in its budget). This represents an important victory for Florida Forever. Our thanks to all who contacted your elected leaders to encourage inclusion of Florida Forever in the budget.

The Conference Committee agreement is not without setbacks, however.  Funding for Everglades restoration currently stands at $50 million, a far cry from the $200 million proposed annually and the $100 million agreed to in the Senate earlier this year. We continue to work with our conservation allies to restore Everglades funding.

While support of the Budget Conference Committee is welcomed relief, it is not the final vote. Both the House and Senate most vote to accept the conference report later this week. If you have not already done so, please let your legislator know you support full funding for Florida Forever and that you would like to see additional funding for Everglades restoration.

Ask your legislator to support full funding of Florida Forever and increased funding for the Everglades.

Florida Forever Successor Bill SB 542/HB 7141
The Florida Senate has unanimously approved the Florida Forever successor bill (Senate bill 542). The bill reauthorizes Florida Forever for another 10 years at $300 million annually. On April 21, the House Policy and Budget Council approved its version of the Florida Forever successor bill, but it has not yet been scheduled for House floor action.

The new Florida Forever program, as envisioned in SB 542 will include:

 

Ask your legislators to vote "Yes" on SB 542 and HB 7141.

Update!    Energy and Climate Change SB 1544/HB 7135 
The House has passed HB 7135, important energy and climate change legislation. SB 1544 is set for final passage in the Senate. This sets the stage for a quick conference committee, if necessary, and final passage of the omnibus energy bill before the end of the session.

As it reads now, the Energy and Climate Change Bill:

Both the House and Senate versions of this legislation provide fast track permitting for utility transmission lines across state owned lands, including conservation lands purchased under Florida Forever. Our coalition has had some success in mitigating the impacts on conservation lands, establishing more favorable terms for land swaps and compensation for lands lost.

Ask your legislators to support HB 7135

Appropriations Bills HB5001/ SB 2900  
Conferees have completed their work and final passage of the Appropriations Act is expected in time for a Friday adjournment of the 2008 session. The proposed budget of $65 billion falls short of last years spending plan by approximately $5 billion.

Cuts in spending will impact a broad range of government services including the environment, healthcare and education. In negotiations between the House and Senate, leaders have agreed to use trust funds from the state's settlement with the tobacco industry to bridge the gap in revenues.

As reported above, House and Senate leadership has called for full funding ($300 million) for Florida Forever. Please let your legislator know you support this position.

Update!    Fertilizer Preemption CS/HB 1267 and CS/SB 2352 
This bill would have preempted local government regulation of fertilizer application. The bill would also have required all local authorities to adopt model ordinances but provided no funding to do so. A coalition of environmental groups was successful in convincing policymakers to allow local governments to retain the ability to tailor their own ordinances to address fertilizer formulations and application periods and schedules.

Water quality enhancement, impaired water body restoration, and efforts to meet TMDLs statewide would be further hampered by legislation such as HB1267/SB 1352. Therefore, FWF is opposed to this and similar legislation.

Senate leadership has assured us that the bills and amendments attempting to insert the language in other bills will be blocked from further debate during the remainder of this session.

Update!        Local Agricultural Regulation in Jeopardy (HB 671/SB 1376) 
This bill prohibits county governments from regulating anything farm-related that is already regulated on the state and federal level. Thus, it would eliminate a county's authority to enforce its rules that apply to farms. This means the local Environmental Protection Commissions would not be able to set rules about wetlands preservation on agricultural lands, a point of contention with county officials and conservationists.

For example, about 66 percent of Hillsborough County's wetlands lie on agricultural land. Wetlands provide a natural water filtration system and are home to some protected species. Hillsborough's wetlands shelter the state's largest breeding colony of roseate spoonbills and 50 percent of the state's nesting white ibis. Because state laws governing wetlands tend to be more lax than those of Hillsborough County, the bill would make it easier for farmers to turn their land into subdivisions and strip malls, not preserve it for agriculture.

HB 671 passed the House on Monday April 28 and is now in Senate messages. The Senate General Government Appropriations Committee approved SB 1376 on April 22 and it now on Calendar on the Senate floor, 2008.

FWF thinks local control is a better solution to agricultural regulation and that more protection of wetlands is a critical growth management feature we must preserve.

Ask your legislators to vote "NO" on HB 671/SB 1376 

Update!        Hunting and Fishing License Renewal SB 1286 / HB 7059  
SB 1286 calls for a long overdue revision of Florida boating registration and hunting and fishing licensure renewals. However, when presented in the House, SB1286 was passed with amendments that strip the license fees and call for civil penalties for scarring of seagrass beds or the taking of illegal wildlife or fish, which was the intent of HB 7059. The conference committee report has resulted in the re-referral of the bill to a series of Senate committees for further review. This likely signals the death of this proposal for the 2008 session.

Water Quality Credit Trading Program HB 547/ SB 1208   
This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt rules to implement a water quality credit trading program as a pilot program in the lower St. Johns River Basin. Water quality credit trading is a voluntary, market-based approach to promote protection and restoration of Florida's rivers, lakes, streams and estuaries and would serve to enhance other voluntary, regulatory and financial assistance programs already in place. HB 547 passed the full House on April 28. SB 1208 is now in General Government Appropriations.

Growth Management Reforms SB 474/ HB 7129 
SB 474 would eliminate all but a few of the exceptions that now allow developers to change growth plans. Under this proposal, county governments would be allowed to amend their plans no more than twice per year.  Before any land-use plan changes could be considered, the bill would require holding a neighborhood or community meeting to talk about them. Last minute changes to the proposed plan amendments would also be eliminated. Instead, no changes could be made less than five days before the vote.

SB 474, in its present form, is a good first step toward more effective citizen involvement in growth management.  FWF is watching the amendatory process to see that no additional amendments serve to water down the initial positive steps being taken to improve access to the Comprehensive Plan process.

HB 7129 is on 3rd reading in the House. More problematic than the bill is the reduction of positions at the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) as envisioned by associated budget items. Eight positions would be removed in the Office of the Secretary, eight more in the Division of Community Planning and one in the Division of Housing and Community Development. The loss of these positions threatens to affect DCA's ability to perform the functions required by the 1985 Growth Management Act and reduces its ability to provide needed technical assistance, especially in Florida's rural communities.

FWF encourages the House to restore these positions and provide DCA with budget flexibility to respond to rural communities' requests for support.

Wastewater Ocean Outfalls and Re-use CS/CS /SB 1302  
The Senate gave final passage to CS/CS /SB 1302, a bill which would eventually close five wastewater ocean outfalls in South Florida and require reuse of millions of gallons of wastewater per day that presently flow into the Atlantic off Florida's southeastern coast. In a nod to Miami-Dade officials who are concerned about the potential costs of associated infrastructure, CS/SB1302 calls for an immediate halt to further construction of outfall pipes but allows South Florida counties until December of 2025 to meet all other advanced wastewater treatment requirements.

Environmentalists have argued that in a region plagued by water shortages, reclaimed water is essential to the long-term well being of the region, the Everglades and ultimately to the coastal zone currently being damaged by wastewater outfalls.

The bill is now on second reading in the House where, if passed and signed into law, the measure would ultimately halt the pumping of over 300 million gallons of wastewater that is piped offshore in ocean outfalls from Miami-Dade and Broward counties, harming the region's coastal resources and reefs.

FWF supports this legislation and applauds the work of the coalition of groups that have fought for this legislation for a number of years.

Update!        Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Statute Revisions HB 7091/ SB 1304 
Among its many legislative priorities, the FWC is attempting to combine Chapters 370 and 372, Florida Statutes, dealing with regulation of marine fisheries and wildlife and freshwater fisheries.  These are vestiges left from statutes under which the old Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission operated. According to staff, these were intended to be combined at the creation of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission created in 1999. FWC believes this exercise will clarify the role and scope of the Commission by organizing its jurisdiction by subject matter.

HB 7091 has been approved by the full House and SB 1304 is on Special Order Calendar in the Senate.

Update!        Desalination Technology HB199/ SB 708 
The bill directs the Department of Environmental Protection to coordinate with the water management districts to conduct a study of current desalination technologies.  It creates the Reclaimed Water Coordination Task Force to encourage use of desalination.  The intent is to provide direction to the Legislature regarding the future use of desalination. On Monday, April 28 the bill passed the full House. SB 708 is now in Senate General Government Appropriations.

Both bills promote Florida Friendly landscaping which is defined as "planting the right plant in the right place, efficient watering, appropriate fertilization, mulching, and attraction of wildlife..."

Update!        Florida Springs Protection Act CS/SB 2394 
The Florida Springs Protection Act takes initial steps to protect Rainbow Springs and Silver Springs in Marion County. Unfortunately, the bill appears to have fallen victim to concerns that funding will not be available to carry out the modest first steps toward springs protection that this bill envisions. Late word from its sponsor, Senator Burt Saunders, is that the bill will likely die on the calendar in the Senate. With no identical House bill the chances of passage were tenuous from the start.

HB 31, which would create the Florida Springs Stewardship Task Force, was passed out of the House Environment & Natural Resources Council on April 9, 2008 and is now in the Policy & Budget Council where action has stalled.

Update!        Clean Oceans Act HB 897 and CS/SB 1094 and SB 326 
The bill requires owner/operators of gambling vessels (sometimes referred to as "day cruises" or "cruises to nowhere") to register with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on an annual basis. Registration would include a schedule of the vessel's operation in coastal waters and describe the waste treatment system of each registered vessel by type, design and operation, including the capacity of the holding tank(s).  The bill further requires an owner/operator of a gambling vessel to establish procedures for the release of waste from vessels and to make available a waste-management service to handle and dispose of the vessel's waste. The bill requires the owner/operator of a gambling vessel that releases any waste into coastal waters to report that release to the DEP within 24 hours of the release.

HB 897 is on 3rd reading in the House. The Senate has combined CS/SB 1094 and SB 326 and passed this measure on Friday, April 25. That bill is now in messages to the House.

FWF supports this legislation.

Update!          Constitutional Amendment to Grant Tax Savings for Conservation
The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission passed both Constitutional Proposals (CP's) 15 and 16. CP 15 is the ad valorem tax exemption for real property encumbered by a perpetual conservation easement or like instrument. CP 16 provides that lands used for conservation purposes shall be assessed for ad valorem tax at the present, not highest and best, use. A proposal to combine these into one amendment on the ballot was adopted by a vote of the Commission 24-1. It will be on the ballot in November 2008.

Other relevant proposals approved for the ballot by the TBRC are:

 

You can go to http://www.floridatbrc.org/index.php for a full list and detailed analysis of proposals.

Federal Legislation
FWF is working with the National Wildlife Federation to seek support for climate change legislation, including the Warner - Lieberman, "America's Climate Security Act" (S. 2191), and in the U.S. House the Climate Stewardship Act (HR 620) and the Safe Climate Act (HR 1590). America's Climate Security Act is the first bipartisan bill to address climate and energy that also contains funding for states to manage wildlife impacts. Because Florida has a State Wildlife Management Plan, Florida would be among the states to receive up-front funding.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has indicated the Senate will begin debate on the measure in early June.

Ask Senator Mel Martinez and your Member of Congress to sign on to one of these important climate and energy security bills. Thank Senator Bill Nelson for being a co-sponsor of this important energy and climate change initiative.

Other News
Within days of a coalition victory, in which we were able to defeat bills that would have limited local control over mining in Lee County, the fleeting nature of such success was punctuated by the actions of the Palm Beach County Commission. On April 24 the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that the Palm Beach County Commission approved plans for decades of mining on 11,000 acres of mostly sugar cane that used to be the Everglades. Commissioners also approved the Lake Harbor Quarry, 7,351acres four miles south of Lake Okeechobee and three miles west of U.S. 27.

Environmentalists warn that decades of digging and blasting to create massive pits can contaminate underground water supplies. They also argue that mining ties up land that could be needed for reservoirs and treatment areas planned for Everglades restoration. While the mining proposals meet county zoning rules, environmental concerns must be addressed through the state's permitting process. Richard Grosso, attorney for the Everglades Law Center, said the mines should have to get state environmental permits before the county gives the go ahead.

Commissioners Karen Marcus and Jess Santamaria voted against the mines. Mary McCarty joined commissioners Burt Aaronson, Robert Kanjian and Jeff Koons in voting for the mines.

FWF Policy Consultant