Bennett says DCA won't be eliminated "on my watch"

Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, today said elimination of the Florida Department of Community Affairs "is not going to happen on my watch."

Bennett, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs, could play a key role in maintaining DCA as the chief state agency responsible for enforcing Florida's growth management laws. The agency this year is undergoing a "sunset" review under state law to determine if the need for the agency.

Amid criticism of DCA last year, the House Military and Local Affairs Committee introduced a bill that would abolish the department and shift its planning oversight to the Florida Department of State. DCA Secretary Tom Pelham faces criticism from developers for questioning the need for new projects.


Although Bennett doesn't serve on the Joint Legislative Sunset Committee, his Committee on Community Affairs will take up whatever legislation the Sunset panel proposes. Speaking today to the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association Public Policy Workshop, Bennett said abolishing the department "is never going to happen on my watch."

"We need oversight," he said. "We need a central planning agency to keep us all in line."

Other speakers at the FAPA annual Public Policy Workshop said the Legislature, during an election year, may seek to avoid controversy by extending the DCA sunset review until next year.

The controversial proposed Amendment 4, known as "Florida Hometown Democracy," may persuade legislators to do little on growth management issues, some capital observers said.

Amendment 4 would require voter approval of changes to local comprehensive growth plans. Business groups and some local governments oppose the measure while a few environmental groups support it.

Several speakers said they don't expect significant growth legislation this year because lawmakers don't want to provide ammunition for Amendment 4 supporters.

"We are very concerned about Amendment 4," Bennett said. "We don't want to do anything to fire that up."

When he's asked what the Legislature will do this session, Bennett said he responds, "Not very much."

"On growth management," he said, "right now we don't have much growth to manage."

He said SB 360, which revamped some aspects of growth law last year, still is being implemented.

Bennett said he would like to see some permitting duplication eliminated.

(Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)

Panel issues growth recommendations, struggles for money

A state panel created by the Legislature to make recommendations on growth management and quality of life issues has produced its fourth annual report while it struggles with lack of state funding.

The Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida this year has issued four recommendations, most of them suggesting follow-up action on previous recommendations.

The commission, whose members are appointed by the governor, House speaker and Senate president, received $450,000 a year from the state when it was created by the Legislature in 2005 but received only $6,400 last year, commission Executive Director Tim Center told the House Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee.

"That was not enough technically to pay for the hosting fee for the web site," Center said. He said the Collins Center for Public Policy is paying the commission staff salaries and that the unpaid commissioners are paying their own travel expenses to attend meetings.

The commission already is working on one recommendation: Establishing a fact-finding process on coastal oil drilling in conjunction with Senate research on the issue.

The commission also is recommending that the governor and Legislature explore incentives for "cool roofs" and other reflective building surfaces that can reduce energy use.

Another recommendation calls for the Legislature to fund a second "water congress" -- this one dealing with water quality -- to follow up on the 2008 Florida Water Congress dealing with water quantity issues. In its legislative package last year, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection proposed many of the 2008 Water Congress recommendations but only two were approved, Center said.

Saying that Florida's sustainable water supply now is in "serious jeopardy," Center urged the committee to take up the remaining recommendations from the 2008 Florida Water Congress.

"This is low hanging fruit -- if not fruit on the ground -- and is something that could be done immediately," he said.

The fourth recommendation calls for a process of engaging landowners, agricultural interests, government agencies and environmental groups to create a blueprint for conserving Florida's clean water and air.

Several committee members praised the commission for its thorough research.

"I think we take them seriously," said Rep. Dorothy L. Hukill, R-Port Orange and committee chairwoman told FloridaEnvironments.com. "The reason they (commission recommendations) are broad is so they can make a recommendation that they can say there is broad support for."

To download a copy of the commission's recommendations, go to www.centurycommission.org .

Senators hear plight of Wakulla Springs

A manatee surfaces in Wakulla Springs near a tour boat carrying members and staff of the Senate Select Committee on Florida's Inland Waters

Eight Florida senators today heard from Wakulla Springs State Park supporters about their efforts to fight increasing nitrogen levels that have caused the springs to become choked with weeds and algae.

The Senate Select Committee on Florida's Inland Waters is holding hearings around the state as it develops possible legislation to regulate pollution affecting springs. Committee members toured Wakulla Springs by boat, viewing alligators, manatees and an assortment of bird life.

Representatives of Friends of Wakulla Springs told senators they had to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Tallahassee wastewater was to blame for nitrogen in groundwater at Wakulla Springs before the city and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection took action.

"Government has not done a good job of protecting springs -- I think this one is a case study in that," said Dorothy Routh, a founding member of Friends of Wakulla Springs.

A DEP representative responded by pointing out that DEP paid for a study that traced the groundwater under the city spray field flowing to Wakulla Springs.

Other speakers said that springs around the state are affected by a variety of nitrogen sources, including farms, septic tanks and dirty stormwater runoff.

"I think what we all understand and need to understand with legislation going forward is that one size does not fit all," said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs and committee chairman.

He has introduced SB 568, the Florida Springs Protection Act, which he describes as a placeholder while the committee develops legislation.

The committee meets again Feb. 12 in Palatka, Feb. 22 in Punta Gorda and Feb. 25 (tentative) in Gainesville.

(Photo and story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or reproduce without permission.)

Florida utility commission reform bill clears committee

A bill by Sen. Mike Fasano to require that communications between Public Service Commission members and regulated utilities be posted publicly was approved today by a Senate committee.

Fasano, R-New Port Richey, introduced SB 1034 after the news media last fall revealed numerous contacts between commissioners and Florida Power & Light Co. representatives during hearings on the utility's rate hike request.

Those reports detailed "one of the most egregious violations of the public trust," Fasano told the Senate Committtee on Communications, Energy and Public Utilities.

The bill includes commission staff in an existing prohibition against commissioners' ex parte -- or private -- communications with legally interested parties in cases before the PSC. Notices of such contacts must be posted on the commission web site within 72 hours.

Former commissioners also would be prohibited for two years from being employed by a regulated utility or a business or trade association that has participated in a PSC hearing. Former commissioners and PSC advisory staff would be banned from lobbying the legislative or executive branches for two years.

The commission supports the changes, said PSC General Counsel Curt Kiser, a former state senator. The commission is considering tougher draft legislation that would provide civil penalties on utility officials or other parties parties who participate in ex parte communications.

Commissioner Nathan Skop told FloridaEnvironments.com that proposed reforms are "long overdue" as called for in a 1992 grand jury report.

"Every four or five years you have the commission in the crossfire for ethics issues," Skop said. "It seems to me if they were to embrace the 1992 grand jury findings … that would go along way to addressing the systemic problems that occur."

Fasano said he's willing to consider the changes being considered by the PSC. "I don't want to get into this their's-is-tougher than-our's (comparison)," he said. "The law is so weak today."

Fasano also said he expects the bill to be voted on during the first week of the session, which starts March 2. The bill now goes to the Senate Rules Committee.

(Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)

DEP report backs off earlier bag ban recommendation

In a report released today, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection backed off an earlier draft recommendation to ban disposable shopping bags.

The Legislature in 2008 directed DEP to issue recommendations on regulating plastic and paper bags and banned local governments from adopting regulations.

DEP in October released a draft report that called for banning paper and plastic bags by 2015. But the department withdrew the draft report and removed it from its web site after a firestorm of opposition from conservative commentators and business groups.

The report issued today describes problems caused by plastic bags in the environment but merely outlines 12 options rather than proposing action. The options range in regulatory scope from launching an educational campaign or encouraging recycling in stores to implementing a fee on individual bags or banning them entirely.

A Florida Retail Federation representative praised DEP for highlighting the voluntary efforts of store chains but said the report still contained the per-bag fee recommendation that retailers oppose. "We don't think our customers should be taxed," said Samantha Hunter Padgett, the federation's deputy general counsel.

A Sierra Club state chapter representative said the report was thorough and she hopes the Legislature takes action on it. "I understand why they (DEP officials) didn't" make a stronger recommendation, said Cecilia Height of Winter Park, a member of Sierra Club's waste minimization committee. "But I applaud the amount of homework they put into the thing."

To view the report, go on the web to: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/retailbags/default.htm .

(Photo from DEP retail bags report. Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)

Understanding of Gulf ecology lacking in drilling debate

Venus purse anemone on a patch of Lophelia coral at 2500 feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists' lack of understanding about the complex relationships between marine organisms should be considered in the debate about oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida State University researchers said today.

FSU is holding its second symposium on oil drilling with the focus today on the gulf ecology and regulatory impacts of drilling. House and Senate leaders are proceeding separately towards possibly developing oil drilling legislation during the upcoming legislative session, which begins March 2.

During a morning news conference, FSU researchers said the decision on whether to drill would be made by policymakers -- without researchers telling them whether it would be harmful to the Gulf environment. But FSU Coastal and Marine Lab Director Felicia Coleman also said there is a lack of information about ecological relationships and the effects of drilling on the Gulf ecology and the services it provides, such as fishing.

"If we don't really understand (what) the implications or consequences are to disrupting those services, that is something we need to have a better hold of," she said. "You always take the risk of reaching a tipping point beyond which you can't come back. And it would be nice to know where that is before you get that far."

Ian MacDonald, a professor in FSU's Department of Oceanography, said oil and gas production has a good safety record in the Gulf of Mexico but the industry also has been surprised by the level of damage from hurricanes in recent years.

"I guess my feeling is the deep sea can be a good place a good place to produce oil and gas if the regulation is sufficiently informed by good science and well-regulated and well-enforced by a vigilant federal mission or state mission."


Federal laws protecting endangered species, such as manatees, whales and corals, also would apply to drilling within Florida waters, which extend to 10 miles from the coast, FSU law professor J.B. Ruhl said. Beyond those Florida waters, restrictions on drilling and exploration in designated marine protected areas also would apply.

The deep Gulf waters are as biologically-rich as a rainforest and should no longer be considered a "barren desert," researchers said.

Some "chemosynthetic" ecological communities convert into food some of the oil and gas seeping from the ocean floor, MacDonald said.

But he said it would be over-simplistic to suggest that drilling or oil spills would actually be good for those organisms. Those ecological communities thrive on gas and oil that is slowly released, widely dispersed and is more diluted than would occur in an oil spill, MacDonald said.

"Yes, the ocean can adapt to small quantities of oil and gas if they are widely dispersed and not too concentrated at any time," he said. "However that doesn't excuse the oil companies or transport companies from exercising all possible care to prevent any kind of accidents."

The symposium was coordinated by the FSU Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability. For more information on the institute, go to http://www.ieses.fsu.edu/ .

(Top photo by Peter Etnoyer.
Bottom photo and story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)

DEP questions proposed federal water standards

Some healthy streams and preserved streams in state parks and forests apparently won't meet new federal criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 15 proposed numeric nutrient criteria for springs, rivers and lakes in Florida. The specific criteria replace Florida's narrative standard that EPA and DEP earlier agreed was insufficient to protect water bodies.

"There are elements of the proposed rule that need serious review because they appear disconnected with the true nature of Florida water bodies," DEP spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said Friday in an e-mail. "An initial analysis indicates that many healthy and preserved streams (often located in state parks, forests and wildlife refuges) do not attain the proposed values."

The federal proposal faces opposition from some agriculture and business groups.

Last week, the Florida Water Quality Coalition, a group of utilities and other regulated interests, called on the EPA to provide its background science and data or extend the 60-day comment period. EPA said the science and data are available on its web site.

The EPA is conducting hearings on the proposal in Tallahassee on Feb. 16, Orlando on Feb. 17 and West Palm Beach on Feb. 18. For more information, go on the Web to http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/florida/ .

(Story copyrighted by Bruce Ritchie and FloridaEnvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission.)