New Legislation
Links The Florida Legislature
19
April 04
Governor not guiding
growth, critics say
After two years of planning, Bush has only two weeks to
get a Wekiva River proposal passed.
By Joe Newman
© Orlando
Sentinel
TALLAHASSEE
-- After pledging during his 2002 re-election campaign to
make growth management a priority, Gov. Jeb Bush so far
has little to show for those promises. An
ambitious plan to make Secretary of State Glenda Hood his
growth czar stalled. The Department of Community Affairs,
which oversees how land is developed and would have been
merged with Hood's office, instead is grappling with its
uncertain fate and revolving-door leadership. Critics
say no meaningful growth-management legislation has passed
during
Bush's second term -- and the few statewide measures in
front of the Legislature this year have been criticized
for actually loosening growth controls. And
now, a bill that would protect the fragile Wekiva River
ecosystem from rampant development is in doubt for the
second year in a row. Read
more
18 April 04
Ocala's race
Will legislation open the field for a track...
BY RYAN CONLEY
© Ocala
Star-Banner
OCALA - For
those following the saga surrounding a proposed Marion
County racetrack, recently introduced Senate legislation
is clearly viewed as a momentous step toward the creation
of a horse race track in Ocala. It
was so momentous and so swift that many inside the
industry and outside have scarcely had time to get
adjusted to the idea, let alone understand the complex
proposal. But even if the
amended bill should somehow pass before the current
legislative session ends in two weeks -- and the early
odds say it is a longshot -- a daunting myriad of
challenges must be overcome to make way for the Ocala
jewel envisioned by racing giant Magna Entertainment Corp.
Read
more
01 April 04
Legislators
Promote Better Ocean Stewardship with Introduction of
Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2004
Members of Congress act to protect marine ecosystems from
cruise ship pollution
Press Release
Gregg M. Schmidt
Telephone: 202-857-1685
Email: gschmidt@oceanconservancy.org
Washington, DC – The Ocean Conservancy applauds the
bi-partisan group of legislators led by Senator Richard J.
Durbin (D-IL), California Congressman Sam Farr (D-17th),
and Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays (R-4th) for
introducing the Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2004. As cruise
ships have continued to grow in popularity, capacity and
number, so has their impact on our ocean ecosystems. This
new measure will establish clear and reasonable
environmental standards for a largely unregulated
industry. The cruise ships of
today carry thousands of passengers, and produce waste
equivalent to that of small cities. Yet they are not
governed by the same anti-pollution laws as municipalities
of comparable size on land. Right now, cruise ships are
not subject to regulations that would help protect the
beautiful and inspiring ocean ecosystems and marine
wildlife that attract many cruise ship travelers. “Cruise
ships have largely escaped pollution regulations, and The
Ocean Conservancy believes it is time to adopt legislation
that brings cruise ships in line with 21st century
pollution control practices,” said Roger Rufe, President
of The Ocean Conservancy. “With the large expansion in
the cruise industry, the Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2004
provides an appropriate solution to a preventable
problem.”
31 March 04
Legislature may
take up water reservation issue during session
By CHARLIE WHITEHEAD
© Naples
News
The issue of how water reservations for the
environment balance with water for future growth may yet
be addressed through legislation this session in
Tallahassee. Environmentalists,
developers and now Lee County will be watching carefully
to see if a bill that the Association of Florida Community
Developers may propose finds state cooperation and a
legislative sponsor. The bill is
borne of a controversy over the Department of
Environmental Protection's effort to change a rule that
would expand the list of environmental uses for which it
could reserve fresh water. Currently
water use rules allow the state to reserve water for
wildlife protection and for Everglades restoration. The
new rule would allow reservations for aquatic preserves,
Outstanding Florida Waters and state parks and public
lands. It would also allow prospective reservations,
meaning it could reserve water from future resource
restoration projects. Read
more
29 March 04
Water rule
challenge may end through agreement
By CHARLIE WHITEHEAD
© Naples
Daily News
There may be an agreement in the works that would
settle a developer group's challenge of a state rule to
expand reservations of fresh water for environmental
purposes. Local developers still
aren't saying how they feel about the Association of
Florida Community Developers' challenge of the proposed
Department of Environmental Protection rule. Some Lee
County commissioners raised a stink about the challenge
this week, demanding to know where local members of the
association — Bonita Bay Group, Collier Enterprises,
Barron Collier, Ginn Development and WCI — stand. As of
Friday, none had returned calls or made statements.
Cathy Vogel, lobbyist for the
association, says there might be a settlement in the
works. Vogel says the challenge was filed simply to allow
continued work on the new rule. The
state currently can reserve fresh water for the
environment to implement Everglades restoration,
potentially withholding it from proposed development. The
change would expand allowable reservations to include
Outstanding Florida Waters, parks, preserves and public
lands. Read
more
28 March 04
Environmental
groups upset over wetlands rules changes
By CATHY ZOLLO
© Naples
Daily News
Recent changes in the way the federal government
regulates wetlands and other waterways and a push in the
Florida Legislature to test the dumping of treated sewage
water in canals has state and national environmental
groups alarmed. The League of
Conservation Voters, Florida Public Interest Research
Group, Earthjustice, Natural Resource Defense Council,
Citizens for the Bay, Clean Water Network and the Sierra
Club Florida Chapter have banded together to call
attention to their concerns. "We
are, collectively, calling on the Bush administration to
reverse its current policy and uphold the Clean Water Act
by applying its protections to all waters of the United
States," said Sandra Diaz of the League of
Conservation Voters Education Fund. The
groups say the administration and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers are backing off from protecting certain wetlands
and waterways, such as canals. Meanwhile, they say, a bill
under consideration in Tallahassee will require a pilot
project to test the dumping of treated sewage water in
those canals. Read
more
27 March 04
Groups Target
Water Limits
By MIKE SALINERO
© Tampa
Tribune
TALLAHASSEE - Several powerful developer groups are
trying to change provisions of Florida law that allow the
state to reserve water for the environment. The target of
the developers' lobbying efforts is a seldom-used statute
that allows state agencies to reserve water for
``protection of fish and wildlife or the public health and
safety.'' That law has been used only once, when the St.
Johns Water Management District reserved water for the
Paynes Prairie State Preserve just south of Gainesville.
But the law is slated to play a crucial
role in the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration project,
which depends on massive water storage projects. Developers
are worried that the effort to capture water and reroute
it across the Everglades won't leave enough for
development in South Florida. ``We're
not opposed to the idea of water reservations, but there
has to be a certain equity in the legislation that takes
into account the needs of agriculture, community
development, as well as environmental uses,'' said Ken
Plonski, spokesman for WCI Communities Inc., developers of
Sun City Center. Read
more
01-March-04
Proposed special districts linked
to Ave Maria expected to get OK from Legislature
By LARRY HANNAN
© Naples Daily News
Barring a huge surprise, bills creating two independent special
districts in Collier County should easily sail through the Florida
Legislature this spring. "These districts
have the support of local government," said state Rep. Mike Davis,
R-Naples. "They have been well supported throughout this entire
process and that is something that matters to the
Legislature." Barron Collier Cos. wants a
special district to build and maintain community services for Ave Maria
University and its companion town, while Collier Enterprises is seeking
a similar district to control what would be called the Big Cypress
Stewardship District for lands west of the proposed Ave Maria district.
Both proposed districts are east of Collier Boulevard
and south of the Immokalee area, totaling more than 30,000 acres. Read
more
Legislature 2004: Environmental
projects may get funding boost
By ERIC STAATS
© Naples Daily News
Environmental restoration projects from Lake Trafford to Naples Bay
are in the mix for a funding boost from the state Legislature this year.
Local legislators in the state House and Senate are
pushing $12.3 million worth of projects in Collier County on behalf of
the South Florida Water Management District. The
session gets started Tuesday in Tallahassee although the fate of the
funding requests probably won't be known for months. The session lasts
60 days. Similar requests during the 2002
session went unfunded in a late-hour scramble to adopt the state's
annual budget with funding tight. That left
the Water Management District to fill the gap, sending $1 million to
kindle Naples Bay restoration. Read
more
06-January-04
Florida must
review water management
Saunders’ senate bill a good idea
Editorial
© Ft
Myers News-Press
Should
Florida move ahead with a statewide review of its water
management structure, knowing that powerful business
interests are hoping such a study will open the door to
possible privatization of water in the state, and
controversial interregional transfers? The
answer has to be yes. Studying
Florida water needs on a statewide basis makes sense.
Demand is soaring, and while the current system of
regional water management districts has worked so far, it
may not be adequate for the future. It
would be blind to refuse to put all the issues on the
table for discussion. Those include privatization and the
transfer of water from areas rich in the resource to those
where demand will outstrip supply. Read
more
19-December-03
Bill would kill water
transfer proposal
Rep. David Russell aims to prevent water being moved from
the state's north to its south.
By DAN DeWITT
© St. Petersburg
Times
BROOKSVILLE -
For State Rep. David Russell, preparing a bill that ties
water use to development has become an annual ritual.
The general idea has always been the
same, that local governments should make sure water is
available to any development they approve. He first
introduced it in 2001 and, the following year, a version
passed that gently prodded cities and counties to identify
sources of water. A tougher bill
stalled in the 2003 session. The Brooksville Republican
will introduce it again this spring, he said, with an
important addition. His new bill
will attempt to stop the controversial plan to ship water
from rural areas of the northern part of the state to
densely populated South Florida. "People
around the state . . . are very concerned with the
proposals made by the Committee of 100," Russell
said, referring to the business group that introduced the
plan earlier this year. Read
more
09-December-03
Safety valve on water
Editorial
© http://www.pbpost.com
Sometimes, the
best thing to do is nothing, a hard concept for state
legislators who may want to tinker recklessly with water
policies. The Florida Council of
100's report urging new policies probably will spawn new
attempts to remove Florida's water supply from public
ownership. The council, a group of corporate leaders who
advise Gov. Bush, recommends changes that could lead to
privatizing the water supply and moving water from the
springs and rivers of North Florida to serve rapid growth
in Central and South Florida. Senate
Natural Resources Committee Chairman Al Lawson,
D-Tallahassee, has held hearings around the state on the
council's suggestions, and he found that 99 percent of
people who attended oppose the proposals. House members
are calling for their own hearings. Opponents of the
council's plans are watching for legislation similar to
Baxter Troutman's bill that failed this year. Read
more
26-November-03
Collier legislators to
push for special districts
By LARRY HANNAN
© Naples
Daily News
The Collier County legislative delegation will work to
create two new independent special districts during the
2004 legislative session in Tallahassee. On
Tuesday, the delegation unanimously agreed to support a
local bill that would create the independent special
districts. The special districts will encompass Ave Maria
University and the rural lands west of Ave Maria, near
Immokalee. A local bill
only affects a local area and does not have an effect
statewide. The tradition in the Legislature is that a
local bill is pushed by legislators from the area the bill
will affect. Read
more
10-July-03
Florida Law Limiting Citizens' Right to Dispute Challenged
© Environmental News Service - ENS
TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Attorneys for the nonprofit public interest law firm Earthjustice opened their case today on behalf of two Florida groups who are challenging a Florida law that restricts the rights of ordinary citizens to dispute government decisions that affect the environment.
The bill at issue passed in the final hours of the last legislative session, after being cobbled together with an unrelated bill that was likely to pass.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and Manasota 88, claims that the law violates the Florida Constitution because it deals with two unrelated topics.
"This law seeks specifically to favor the interests of large corporations over the ordinary Floridian," said David Guest of Earthjustice. "All citizens have the right to question their government, and we don't intend to let an unconstitutional law take that right away."
After repeated attempts to get the bill, Senate Bill 270, passed in previous sessions, sponsor state Senator Jim King attached it to an Everglades restoration bill that was widely supported. The package was signed into law in May 2002.
Read more
2002
02-Dec-02
Bush Signs Bill to Preserve Wetlands
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, hoping to burnish his environmental
record, signed legislation Monday to continue a program aimed at preserving
America's wetlands. ``The federal government will continue its partnership with land owners,
conservation groups and states to save and improve millions of acres of
wetlands,'' the president said in a White House ceremony. Read
more...
Copyright © 2002 NY
Times, AP online All rights reserved.
25-July-02
BILL WOULD RESTORE PROTECTION TO
ISOLATED WETLANDS
Legislation introduced in Congress today would restore federal
protection for millions of acres of wetlands that provide habitat for
birds and other wildlife. Supporters of the legislation say it will
restore the original intent of the Clean Water Act of 1972 by overriding a
Supreme Court decision that removed federal protection for isolated
wetlands.
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, was joined by
Representatives James Oberstar of Minnesota and John Dingell of Michigan,
both Democrats, to introduce the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of
2002.
Read
more...
Copyright © 2002 Environment
News Service (ENS) All Rights Reserved.
20-Jan-02
Growth Management
bill (CS-SB 382)
GROWTH PROPOSALS
Here are some key provisions of the growth management bill
(CS-SB 382)
approved by the Senate Comprehensive Planning, Local and
Military Affairs
Committee:
* Local comprehensive plans must include a work plan
covering at least 10
years for building water supply facilities to serve
existing and new
development.
* Local governments
and school boards must enter interlocal planning
agreements, unless they have declining
school populations, with deadlines to
be set by the Florida Department of
Community Affairs between March 1, 2003,
and Dec. 1, 2004.
* Local governments
and school districts that fail to meet their deadlines
for completing interlocal planning
agreements will face sanctions that
include withholding of state revenue
sharing dollars and at least 5 percent
of their state school construction money.
* Local governments
could levy the 0.5 percent local option sales tax for
infrastructure projects by a super majority
-- a majority plus one -- instead
of holding a referendum.
* School boards could
levy the 0.5 percent local option sales tax for
school capital outlay by a super majority
-- a majority plus one -- instead
of holding a referendum.
Copyright © 2002 AP
All rights reserved.
09-Jan-02
COMPREHENSIVE EVERGLADES RESTORATION PLAN
ASSURANCE OF PROJECT BENEFITS AGREEMENT
WHEREAS, the Everglades
ecological system is unique in the world and
one of the Nation's great treasures;
WHEREAS, the Central and
Southern Florida Project as originally
authorized in 1948 has had unintended consequences on the
Everglades and
South Florida Ecosystem;
WHEREAS, the Water
Resources Development Act of 1992 authorized a
Comprehensive Review Study (Restudy) of the Central and South
Florida
Project;
WHEREAS, as required by
the Water Resources Development Act of 1996,
the Restudy was submitted to the Congress of the United States on
July 1,
1999;
WHEREAS, the Restudy,
renamed the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan, was authorized by the Congress in the Water
Resources
Development Act of 2000
Read
more..
2001
2000
New
Bills
Senate action:
9/26/00 - Glades
restoration
project approved
9/24/00 - Canady
takings bill rejected
• Congress to Prepare Everglades Restoration Bill
Copyright ©
2000 Everglades Conservation Network All rights reserved.
Posted 01-Jun-00
• H.R.
2372 to be voted on
H.R. 2372, Rep. Canady's [R-FL] "Private Property Rights
Implementation Act" (TAKINGS BILL) will be MARKED-UP and VOTED on by the Full HOUSE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 and is likely to come to the Floor of the full House of Representatives the following week.
• Search
Thomas
07-July-00
Senate Now Reviews
Everglades Bill
It's a historic moment for the Everglades. After
being approved by a Senate committee, the full Senate is now poised to
vote on a bill which would give $7.8 billion to restore the Everglades,
and activists know that now is a crucial time. "The clock is
ticking for the Everglades," said Michael Bauer, Director, Everglades
Project Office. "It's now or never. The American people should let
their Senators know that we're not going to allow this unique wilderness
area to die." On June 26, 2000, the Senate Environment and
Public Works committee approved the bill, which will pay for the first 10
projects of the restoration plan.
Copyright ©
2000 National Wildlife Federation All rights reserved.
28-June-00
Huge Step Toward Restoration
Everglades Bill Heads Toward Senate
The National Wildlife
Federation (NWF) applauded today's Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee vote for legislation to restore the Everglades. "Senate
Committee Chairman Robert Smith (R-NH) said it would happen and it did.
One day after its introduction, S-2797, the Everglades Restoration Act,
has moved out of committee toward a vote by the full Senate," said
Michael Bauer, Director of NWF's Everglades Project Office. S-2797
authorizes $7.8 billion to be spent on Everglades restoration over a 20
year period. Once a healthy eight-million acre "river of grass,"
the Everglades has been reduced to half its original size by a century of
agricultural growth, urban sprawl and unwise water management. "The 17-1 bipartisan vote in favor of restoration
mirrors America's concern for and dedication to preserving this natural
treasure," said Bauer. "We applaud Senator Smith for his
leadership and his commitment to saving America's 'River of Grass,' and
thank Florida Senators Bob Graham and Connie Mack for their efforts.
Though not perfect, the bill clearly sets the stage for serious long-term
work to save and restore this threatened national treasure." The full Senate is expected to take up the restoration bill
shortly after reconvening July 10. "The clock is ticking for the
Everglades," added Bauer. "It's now or never. The American
people should let their Senators know that we're not going to allow this
unique wilderness area to die."
Copyright © 2000 National Wildlife
Federation All rights reserved
28-June-00
NWF Praises Everglades Bill
Statement by Michael Bauer, Director, NWF Everglades
Project Office
"The legislation introduced
today by Senator Robert Smith is a bold and critical step toward the
restoration of the Everglades. Though not perfect, it clearly sets the
stage for long-term serious work to save and restore this threatened
national treasure. "The National Wildlife Federation applauds
Senator Smith for his leadership and his commitment to saving America's
'River of Grass.' We are looking forward to working with him to remedy
some of our continuing concerns with the legislation, most notably the
need for provisions to ensure that the natural system receives the water
needed for rehabilitation. Once such provisions for the restoration of the
natural system are in place, we would wholeheartedly support this
legislation. "The time to restore the Everglades is now. This
vast community of wildlife and critical source of water for Florida, can't
wait any longer. This legislation is a bi-partisan starting point from
which the Congress and the Administration can work to conserve a critical
natural system on which both people and wildlife depend. It's a tremendous
opportunity for Congress to demonstrate its commitment to conserve and
protect an irreplaceable national treasure. The ball is now in their
court."
Copyright © 2000 National
Wildlife Federation All rights reserved.
