Final Tallahassee Report Vol 13 NO 12

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Tallahassee Report

VOL 13 NO 12

Final Report for the 2006 Legislative Session

5/14/06

Susie Caplowe, Florida Chapter Sierra Club Lobbyist and legislative team

Please visit the tracker for background and historical information about the legislation tracked: www.florida.sierraclub.org/tracker (We’ll continue to update the tracker as bills are vetoed or signed into law in the coming weeks).

THANK YOU EVERYONE:

We want to take the opportunity to thank all the wonderful volunteers from around the state who plugged in, made trips to Tallahassee, kept up the phone calls and sent letters to their legislators in response to our detailed information in alerts and on the Tracker. Special KUDOS to Sierra Chapter leaders, especially Conservation Chair Betsy Roberts and Legislative Liaison Helen Spivey. Thank you to the Issue Chairs and Committee members who gave of their time and energy: Water and Wetlands (Rosalie Shaffer, Karen Orr, Lesley Blackner), Energy (Brian Lupiani, George Cavros, Pedro Monteiro, Mark Oncavage) , Protecting Florida’s Native Habitat (Ben Fusaro, Sue Reske, John Hedrick); Election Reform (Mike Thompson, Alexa Ross), Citizen Participation and Toxics (Dan Hendrickson, Winnie Foster); Greater Charlotte Harbor (Sue Reske) and Turtle Coast (Mary and Doug Sphar) Groups, for their work on Babcock Ranch and No Net Loss of Hunting lands, respectively. We apologize if we missed others, there were so many and so much going on every day, we can’t list everyone here, but:

We all owe thanks to Big Bend group members who really plugged in over and over again: Charlene Walker, Marilyn Wills, Ben Fusaro, Dan Hendrickson, Chad Hansen, Norene Chase, Linda Jamison, Gary Lloyd, Thure Caire, Sally McCabe; Same for the Northwest Florida Group members who really cranked up the grassroots activists: Rosalie Shaffer, John Hedrick, Ellen Roston, Carolyn Kolb, Frank and Ann Higgins. FSU graduate intern Erielle Rancourt worked throughout session with us, sending out alerts, attending hearings, participating in conference calls and strategy meetings. Our many allies were also consistent again, as we all passed info on to each other and lent our “special contacts” to one another for strategic lobbying or “reconnaissance.” David Ludder and the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF) dedicated much of their time this session stopping anti-environmental legislation. Pat Rose and the Save the Manatee Club network generated targeted calls all session. And unsung public employees who made invaluable contributions to all our efforts—you know who you are and how you are appreciated. Media monitor of the year again was Lloyd Brumfield whose 6 am email news clippings kept us plugged in when we otherwise couldn’t even browse the papers or return all our calls downstate.

We are glad that many of you visited the online website all session long, to keep pace with the legislation that we worked on and tracked for all of you. We have received a lot of positive responses from our readers and the media who found the Tracker to be a useful new tool.

Print a copy of this issue to mark and use for reference when you need to check on the bills on the tracker that interest you and your local work (we’ll soon start forgetting the exact bill numbers of the enabling legislation that will be helping or threatening our communities in coming months and years)-- We have to remember which legislators to thank.

SINE DIE

The last week of session is equal to 5 weeks, as those of us who have done this for several years discuss amongst ourselves that one day is likened to one week long. And when the last minute arrives, for the official Sine Die announcement, the lobbyists are either gleeful that bad bills died or gleeful that their bills made it thru before it’s all over. Either way, some are happy and some are sad. And this year’s session came to a close at 12:11 AM Saturday.

Actually the Senate was ready to work until 1am but House Speaker Bense surprised them all and called it quits at 12:11. He was just too tired to take up another bill. He did however introduce what was supposed to be the last bill for the session, this was the bill for the Miami Marlins stadium. The bill was only introduced and that was that. It died on the vine, even though the Senate thought they had an agreement with the House to make the stadium the last bill to vote on. Even the new incoming Speaker from Miami, Representative Marco Rubio, wanted to continue, but he had to follow the lead of Speaker Bense, and as Floor leader, Marco had to announce that there was no more business for the House and it was now, “Sine Die.”

STEPPING BACK:

When we reflect back to the beginning of session, as usual, we had a lot of bad bills coming up at the same time, in several committees and we did what we could everyday to emphasize what was wrong with the legislation. When the legislators, agencies, and the Governor’s office are known to be supportive of legislation, you make the decision to keep fighting, or find a way to make it better. Sierra & allies did such a great job of applying grassroots pressure, and our Tallahassee lobbying team kept up pressure on our target list of bills, we made a real difference: in some cases: we killed bills, we modified bills, and we worked with the Sponsors and Committee Chairs, and Committee staff & legislators’ aides, to minimize damage. Senate President Lee and Speaker Bense, the Governor’s office and Senators Dockery, Clary, Constantine, Campbell, Smith, Miller, Argenziano and Representatives Evers, Vana, Gannon, Joyner, Richardson, Gelber, and so many other legislators were very responsive. The dialogue was very open; and we made significant headway.

MAKING SAUSAGE (if you like to eat it, don’t watch it being made).

This is also a known saying for the legislative session. Early in session, important provisions in some of our Tracker bills were obvious to us because they were actually available to read. That was not the case for the Environmental Resource Permit, or the Energy bill. Those bills had what is known as a “shell” bill or “place-holder,” or, in the case of the ERP, a House “Proposed Committee Bill” and Senator Clary’s version of the ERP showed up in his Shell bill the same day the House PCB language changed, also late in the session. The legislative process isn’t easy with all the loopholes which leave important public policy undisclosed until the moment before a committee meeting begins (or when, in the last two weeks of session, the full House and Senate are on the Floor and the rules change, and lengthy, “Strike everything after the enacting clause” amendments begin piling up.) But that is the way it is, and we do what we can do to make a difference.

BILL STATISTICS TRIVIA:

Total combined bills filed by House and Senate: 2480; total combined bills passed: 386; that generally means that 2094 bills died. The Senate filed 1429; 249 passed the Senate; 118 passed both chambers. The House filed 1051; 426 passed the House; 268 passed both chambers.

UPDATED SUMMARY:

Those of you who visited the Tracker on a regular basis were able to follow the last day of session because we posted to the website regularly when we had a break in our day (the last day is always hurry up and wait). We wanted to provide you with our live report, while we were living through the day/night. We wanted to give you the sense of what we thought would play out with regard to the bills that we were working on that were still “alive,” and being debated, discussed, voted on . Everything about the bills passing or failing comes down to the sponsors, the egos, the timing, the fights between the House and Senate and the lobbying strategies and the different paths you take to make things happen. It is amazing, it is exciting, it is dynamic, it is challenging, and it is exhausting (not to mention, disillusioning, depressing and infuriating , because we want the legislators to create good public policy to protect the environment and public health, and the majority of times, that is not the case).

Here is the list of bills on the Tracker that passed both chambers (they are Underlined to show you which version is on the way to the Governor):

A. 4/27/06: Florida Keys Area Critical State Concern: SB2098/HB1299:oppose, then monitor

B. 4/29/06: Anti-Landscaping Billboards: SB566/HB273: oppose

C. 4/29/06: Class Action: SB2304/HB7259: oppose then monitor

D. 5/4/06: Lead Poisoning Education: SB1324/SB642/HB393: support

E. 5/4/06: Guns in State Parks: SB1546/HB1029: oppose

F. 5/4/06: NWFWMD Environmental Resource Permit: SB2026/HB7163: support with concerns

G. 5/4/06: St. Joe Coastal Hazard Mitigation: SB2216/HB1359: oppose

H. 5/4/06: Septic Tanks: SB1874/HB749: oppose, then monitor

I. 5/4/06: No net loss of Hunting lands: SB430/HB265: oppose

J. 5/5/06: Pave over Farmlands: Agriculture Enclave: SB1880/HB1015: oppose

K. 5/5/06: Development of Regional Impact Exemptions: SB1020/HB683:oppose

L. 5/5/06: Energy: SB888/HB1473: oppose

M. 5/5/06: Rock Miners: No CAP: SB1306/HB1039: oppose

N. 5/5/06: Babcock Ranch money & land management: SB1226/HB1347: support with concerns

Bills on the Tracker that died:

O. SB1608/HB949: Charter counties vs City Governments: oppose

P. SB1910 and other Election Reform good bills: support

Q. SB720/SB1244/HB773: Anti-Petition Gathering bills: oppose

R. SB2544/HB1343: Wetlands delegation from Army CORP and

Florida Forever Forward Funding: Oppose delegation/support FF funding

S. SB26: Supreme Court Subject Filter Citizen Initiatives: oppose

T. SB1918/HB7165: Purifying (NOT) the Constitution: (factory farms are safe): oppose

U. SB1264: Clean Money Clean Elections: support

V. SB1558/HB653/HB229: Prohibit Oil and Gas Drilling: mixed

W. SB2478/HB713: Solar Energy Rebates (rolled into SB888): support

X. SB226: Surplus lands, no House companion: monitor

Y. SB2680/HB7129: Dept. of Interior Constitutional Amendment: monitor

Z. SB2484/HB7207: Water Management Districts Authorized millage rate:oppose

AA. HZB7167/HB7253: Various Growth Management/Sprawl bills: monitor

BB.SB2510/HB261: Florida Incentive (NOT) Based Permitting: oppose

CC. SB1906: Performance Based Permitting: never moved

DD. SB1302/SB2446/HB1307/SB82/HB491: Variety of bills relating to Mercury contamination: fish consumption; reduction of automobile switches into the waste stream; autism/immunizations: support.

EE. SB1436/HB7037: Fiscal Impact and Citizen Initiatives:: raising the voter numbers for passage depending on fiscal impact. OPPOSE.

PASSED: 5/4/06: NWFWMD Environmental Resource Permit: SB2026/HB7163:

You all know that song (the Stones): You can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need. That would be the case for the NWFWMD ERP legislation. The House bill is what passed, but we liked some of the language in the Senate bill better. We wanted the Senate version because dates for the implementation of the rule to be created, could occur by January 1, 2007 for a stormwater program and January 1, 2008 for an (isolated) wetlands program; (the House language reads “not before those dates,” and that the work creating the rule is to begin no later than 60 days after the bill becomes law.) The Senate bill also had language that the rule created would be based on the other WMD’s rules (comparable to) and that the local soils, etc. would be considered; the final language from the House says the NWFWMD will use the least restrictive of the other WMD’s rules and guidelines. The analysis by the wetlands experts from the Counties with local programs assured us the “least restrictive” measure was NOT problematic for them. The bottom line is that: 1) Local Government wetlands programs will not be pre-empted and 2) there is real money now to make a go of it! We just need to stay on top of everything as the rule making proceeds.

As you well remember the alerts we (Rosalie Shaffer, Ellen Roston, Susie Caplowe) sent out informing you of the various bills (SB1112/HB1447, SB7167/SB1528), that the developers were trying to amend with the local government pre-emption language never made it on a bill. Not permanently, anyway. It was amended by the House onto SB1528, but they were forced to remove it. With regard to the Solid Waste Bill, SB1528, again this was one of the bills that was amended with the “local government pre-emption paragraph” and as our alert stated, Senator Dockery would kill her own bill if too much got on it. Because of our grassroots and lobbying efforts, along with help from some of the Counties’ folks, we got that pre-emption language taken out of the Solid Waste bill before the House sent it back to the Senate. The House added the contents of other bills and Senator Dockery had enough and did not “concur” with the House changes, and killed the bill. There was brownfields (HB7131),vessels (HB7175/SB2128), floating vessels, Clandestine laboratories (SB2224/HB7065); Bottled water, Water projects, Brownfield cleanup provisions, etc. (It became what we call an anti-environmental “train”).

The 11^th hour of session, that Friday, the developers, along with some assistance from Cynthia Henderson who was with the Department of Management Services under Governor Jeb Bush, and now working for some solid waste companies, tried again and came up with one more pre-emption amendment, this time to HB7167. There were actually three different versions of this pre-emption language and we worked against it all day long. Here is the first of several versions:

HOUSE AMENDMENT Bill No. HB 7167

Amendment No. 761651

Representative(s) Galvano offered the following:

Amendment to Amendment (841619) (with title amendment)

Between line(s) 956 and 957, insert:

Section 13. In an effort to eliminate duplication and ensure efficient streamlining of the permit process of chapters 373 and 403, Florida Statutes, and eliminate the overlapping of state, federal, and local regulations, the Department of Environmental Protection shall be responsible for ensuring statewide coordination and consistency in the delineation and permitting of surface waters, wetlands, and solid waste and shall create a task force of interested parties and present a report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate by September 1, 2006, with a list of permitting requirements authorized pursuant to chapters 373 and 403, Florida Statutes; the federal, state, regional, and local agencies that currently are required to issue those permits; a corresponding list of permits and the timelines; and recommendations as to which entity should be solely responsible for each permit.

(HB7167 was one of the House’s Growth Management bills) and it died.

PASSED: 5/5/06: Babcock Ranch money & land management: SB1226/HB1347: There were plenty of amendments filed to SB1226 on the last day of session to rewrite the bill to make the House and special business interests happier. The House and Senate were having a tug of war on the land management issues as we have described before in the Tracker. Bottom line is the House wanted to have more multiple use activities, silviculture (making cypress mulch out of the cypress and intense timbering TO GENERATE MONEY), but what Senator Dockery did was very “sheroic” because she withdraw all of them, took up SB1226 as amended on 5/1/06 and replaced Representative Trudi Williams’ bill with the complete contents of the better version of the bill, SB1226. They then laid SB1226 on the table and the Senate then passed HB1347 as amended and sent it to the House, and the House voted at 8:37 pm that evening, to keep the bill from dying altogether as the session was ending. The Senate language shuts down the cypress and timber cuttings, and other problems we had with the House version. Kudo's to the Senate for sticking to their bill. The bill was ordered enrolled and sent to the Governor.

PASSED: 5/5/06: Energy: SB888/HB1473: Senator Constantine agreed to what the House did to the Senate's bill and now this bill is basically a streamline permitting bill for coal and nukes; the Energy Commission members can now work for the industry as long as they disclose their occupation and the pages of recommendations and instructions for the Commission were changed to now just a skeleton of direction setting goals, including a skimpy recognition of carbon emissions and a need for a Climate Action Plan; what has gone unnoticed is the elimination of the Public health and environment, and broad public interest test ....page 97, 403.5175 (4) (c) & (d): here is the language in current Florida Statutes now deleted by this bill:

“(c) Minimize, through the use of reasonable and available methods, the adverse effects on human health, the environment, and the ecology of the land and its wildlife and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life; and (d) Serve and protect the broad interests of the public.”

Other components of SB888: alternative energy (way too broad) was given $15 million in technology grants and $2.5 million for Solar energy rebates and a tax free consumer week to buy energy efficient products….

PASSED: 5/5/06: Rock Miners: No CAP: SB1306/HB1039: The Rock Mining Cap has been deleted from the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt bill. Now the financing of the new water treatment plant will be negotiated in the future, because the CAP of $112 million was removed from the bill. Congratulations to the Miami Sierra group, including Rod Jude and Alan Farago for winning the issue with last minute, strategic grass roots pressure!

PASSED: 5/4/06: St. Joe Coastal Hazard Mitigation: SB2216/HB1359: The Florida Chapter Sierra Club had National Sierra purchase some St. Joe stock a few years ago. And we worked on a hurricane resolution to take to the upcoming stockholder meeting. This resolution pointed out that St. Joe was not addressing coastal wetlands protections and did not have hurricane evacuation routes for all of the upcoming new towns they are creating. So, voila, what does St. Joe do, but indirectly answer our resolution (which was rejected by the Securities Exchange Commission on technicalities with the stock ownership at national) with last minute legislation that would allow them to meet hurricane evacuation by paying money, building roads, or some structures that would provide hurricane shelters. And they can build to their hearts’ content, using “mitigation” to keep building where (as we all know) nothing should be built. Check out the Naples News article below: this bill is on the way to the Governor.

PASSED: 5/5/06: Development of Regional Impact Exemptions: SB1020/HB683: The DRI bill was amended in the Senate with some language for a new bio-research park in St. Lucie at the last minute and it bounced back to the House. We were successful getting a loophole closed with regard to permitting, and requiring an Environmental Resource permit be done but we couldn’t get our “mandatory” to replace “encourage” local governments to use the Boat Siting Facility Plan guidelines when building MARINAs, dry storage or wet slips. The bill was ordered enrolled and then sent to the Governor. The essence is that DRI’s in many categories have been eliminated, and because of that, local comp plans will be even more important players in growth decisions on many major projects and facilities.

PASSED: 5/4/06: No Net Loss of Hunting lands: SB430/HB265.

As we reported earlier in session, this bill was amended to exempt state parks and it stayed that way as it passed both Chambers. See www.florida.sierraclub.org/tracker if you want to remind yourself what this bill was all about. You can read the posted history.

PASSED: 5/5/06: Pave over Farmlands: Agriculture Enclave: SB1880/HB1015:

This bill has been trying to get passed for three years and it finally did (but not without us speaking and working against it at every step). The final bill that passed was bad, but not as bad as originally filed. The bill cuts the agency response time to agriculture applicants in half from 180 days to 90 days (that stayed the same as the earlier versions). What changed was that the original bill stated over and over again in different sections that the application shall not be subject to the “9J-5 Florida Administrative Code or Sprawl rule” and that the agency shall not even use the Sprawl rule to deny an application. The final version that passed changed from “shall not use 9J-5…” to “the application is presumed to be consistent with rule 9J-5. This presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence…” However, the definition of the “Agricultural enclave” still means … agricultural land that is… 75% surrounded by industrial, residential, commercial,” yadda yadda and the acreage is “not to exceed 1280 or not to exceed 4480.”

Visualize patchwork, leapfrog development.

PASSED: 5/4/06: SB1546/HB1029: Guns in State Parks: so now you happy campers, you can be a card carrying, permitted gun owner, & you can keep your weapon in your tent, RV, trailer, car, truck. Keep yourself safe from those other pesky wildlife inhabitants and those renegade nasty campers that will come attacking. At least that was the reason given by the NRA lobbyist, who told of a camper who was attacked, and, had they had a gun, the outcome of the attack would have been different. Imagine what that outcome would have been.

These bills died: 5/5/05: SB720/SB1244/HB773: Anti-Petition Gathering bills; SB26: Supreme Court Subject Filter Citizen Initiatives: SB1918/HB7165: Purifying (NOT) the Constitution: SB1436/HB7037 Fiscal Impact: (Citizen Initiatives and petition gathering survived). We can celebrate this victory as well. While we were fighting on a daily basis, it all came down to the internal fighting between leadership, and against the legislators themselves sponsoring so many constitutional amendments; many of the legislators sounded off on how hypocritical this was. Our hard line lobbying efforts and our Save the Voters Voice coalition work around the state was wonderful. Kudo’s to ACORN, FPIRG, Clean Water Action, Sierra, AFL-CIO, Florida LCV, Florida Consumer Action Network, League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause, Panhandle Citizens Coalition and others. We did an excellent job working together, taking turns, sharing responsibilities and being there for each other.

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EXCERPTS FROM THE FINAL DAYS ON SIERRA’S TRACKER:

5/4/06: The Senate discord has provided a slowdown of bills being passed and sent to the Governor or sent to the House as Senate messages. The longer this occurs, the more bills get sent to the "shredder/out basket."

As many of you have read the papers, heard it on TV or radio, Senate President Tom Lee, on Tuesday evening, had the School Voucher Legislation/ Joint Resolution, which, on a vote of the Senate, had been voted down. This "motion to reconsider" was made by a member of the Senate who was not on the prevailing side, but on the losing side. Usually, under parliamentary procedures, only the winning/prevailing side can bring up an issue/bill for reconsideration. Senator Lee said that, under the Senate rules, they can do this because of "extraordinary" votes (such as, on a constitutional amendment joint resolution, in this case).

So, the next morning, Wednesday morning, the Senate Democrats did a motion of their own, and, using a provision in the Constitution, insisted that all bills and amendments be read word for word, as opposed to just the "title" and "barcode number". So another two hours was spent reading the text of bills aloud on the floor. This discord and slow down has created some dynamics that are working in our favor, for now.

Thanks for continuing to send in news clippings and feedback on specific legislation!! We’ll get to return your calls next week, but we put your information to work as soon as we hear from you.

FRIDAY NIGHT, 5/5/06: Update: 11:11 pm: Wish you were here!!! We don't want to jinx anything, but at this time we do believe that all the other bills not updated on our Tracker as "'ordered enrolled" have bit the dust, didn't make it out the gate-- done, over, and out.

Today was all about that sausage saying, featuring: The amendments that were posted to bills we were working on; the amendments that were withdrawn; adopted; which version passed, (even the legislators sometimes didn't seem to know).

Congratulations to those of us in the Save the Voters Voice Coalition who stayed together and stopped the bad constitutional amendment bills. AMEN. We live to fight another day.

SELECTED NEWSCLIPPINGS:

naplesnews.com

Hurricane evacuation bill actually could increase coastal development, critics say

By Jeremy Cox

Thursday, May 11, 2006

A bill aimed at curtailing the human and environmental toll during hurricanes might have the opposite effect, critics say, by allowing more residents to move into vulnerable coastal areas.

If Gov. Jeb Bush signs the bill, approved by the Legislature last week, evacuation times would determine whether developers could add more homes and condominiums along the coast.

But the measure provides an out to developers that agree to build roads, construct hurricane shelters or contribute cash to offset their projects.

“The way we look at it is it’s a back door to weakening (comprehensive) plans ... and to be able to increase density here and there,” said Susie Caplowe, a Sierra Club lobbyist in Tallahassee. “It doesn’t really seem like good planning.”

The legislation sets a 12-hour deadline for counties and cities to evacuate residents to shelters. The evacuation would apply to people who live in coastal high-hazard areas, which are susceptible to storm surge in relatively mild Category 1 storms.

There must be shelter space “reasonably expected” to accommodate residents of any new coastal development, according to the bill. Counties also must be able to evacuate vulnerable residents out of the county within 16 hours.

If a proposed development endangers those escape plans, the local government would have to either turn down the project or extract promises from the developer to mitigate the harm to be done.

Charles Pattison, executive director of 1000 Friends of Florida, said developers should assure coastal residents that shelter space will be available if they need it. “Reasonably expected” isn’t good enough.

“If you’re building in a coastal high-hazard area, you can’t hope that shelter will be there. It has to be there,” he said.

The mitigation doesn’t go far enough to protect future residents, Pattison argues. He questions language in the bill that requires developers to pay their share for road improvements, possibly leaving road projects underfunded and unfinished for years.

There also is no timetable to constructing shelters on land provided by developers as part of their mitigation, he added.

A lot of lives are at stake.

In Collier County alone, nearly 96,000 residents live in the coastal high-hazard area, or about a third of the county’s total population. The area, generally speaking, encompasses properties to the west of U.S. 41 North and to the south of U.S. 41 East.

In response to disastrous hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, Gov. Jeb Bush formed a 19-member committee to study the state’s coastal high-hazard areas, coastal building restrictions, storm surge modeling and emergency evacuation mapping.

The bill sets into motion a handful of recommendations in the committee’s report, released last February.

The legislation strengthens an existing law that allows the state Department of Environmental Protection to revoke a local government’s ability to issue emergency sea wall permits after a storm.

The committee recommended that change after Walton County officials issued more than 250 permits in the wake of Hurricane Dennis last June.

“Some people built walls in front of walls. They built sea walls even if they didn’t need one just because their neighbor built one farther out,” said Gary Appelson, a committee member and sea turtle advocate.

The bill also places a series of conditions on a new coastal-armoring method that uses gigantic, sand-filled tubes to shore up eroded beaches. Project leaders must have a maintenance plan to ensure the tubes remain buried deep beneath the sand so they don’t become an impediment to sea turtle nesting.

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Article published May 5, 2006
Panhandle developers now play by entire state's rules
By Aaron Deslatte
CAPITOL BUREAU

Florida lawmakers ended years of environmental disparity Thursday by voting to place tougher wetland and stormwater rules on developers in the Panhandle.

A bill that cleared the Legislature would devote $2.7 million to phase in the Environmental Resource Permitting program in the 16 Northwest Florida counties from Escambia to Jefferson, including most of the Big Bend.

The rest of Florida has used the program for a decade to force developers to at least acknowledge the wetlands their projects pave over by either paying into a preservation fund or building artificial wetlands elsewhere.

Panhandle lawmakers have long resisted the program, claiming the region wasn't developing quickly enough to merit the government oversight. But that resistance began eroding last year when Gov. Jeb Bush won a pledge from House Speaker Allan Bense to phase in the program.

Dating back into the 1970s, when then-Senate leader Dempsey Barron of Panama City ruled the Legislature, Panhandle politicians had refused to allow their North Florida districts to follow along as the rest of Florida upgraded stormwater, environmental and construction standards.

Northwest Florida lawmakers blocked the regional water management district from raising taxes to pay for more environmentally friendly building rules, and they won an exemption in 1993 from the ERP program put in place elsewhere.

The result, according to environmentalists, has been more flooding from stormwater runoff and an easier path for developers to pave over wetlands.

Bense found it fitting that another lawmaker from Panama City was bringing the period to a close.

''The days of Dempsey Barron are probably gone,'' the Republican said.

Leon and Escambia counties both have more stringent wetland protections in place than the ERP standards used elsewhere.

But the bill isn't a "poison pill" for developers and home builders.

Among other sweeteners, it calls on the state and federal governments to ''streamline'' environmental permitting, something developers have wanted for years since federal approval of development projects can take years longer than state permitting.

It also allows only the weakest protections for wetlands and flooding in place elsewhere statewide, and it allows them to be wiped out if Florida lawmakers don't fund the program in the future.

''Northwest Florida folks have been trying to 10 years to get this,'' said Susie Caplowe, a Sierra Club lobbyist. ''The sad part is we have to fight for the funding every year.''

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Posted on Wed, May. 03, 2006

Lawmakers shape state's energy plan

ANDREA FANTA

Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state's energy plan began to take shape Wednesday and includes two upcoming tax breaks for Floridians.

House lawmakers approved a bill (SB 888) authorizing a sales tax holiday from Oct. 5-11 on energy-friendly appliances, like ceiling fans, light bulbs and dishwashers. They also approved a year-round tax rebate of up to $5,000 for homeowners who buy solar-energy products, like water and pool heaters.

The measure, which passed with only one no vote, also would created an energy commission to advise the Legislature on forming an in-depth energy policy.

"Today it's energy alternatives such as hydrogen and solar. Tomorrow it might be grass. In a sixty-day session, the Legislature will never be able to evaluate all the opportunities," said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, the bill's sponsor.

The Senate already approved the bill, but the House made changes that require it to go back to the Senate.

Environmentalists had mixed reactions to the bill. One lobbyist compared it to milquetoast.

"It's not really meaningful. They throw a little money at energy efficiency and rebates for people, they throw a lot of money at the industry," said Susie Caplowe, a lobbyist for Florida's Sierra Club.

Two environmental groups said the $2.5 million allocated for the rebate fund is a small amount, but Constantine said this was a first step.

"I wish we could have had more, but you got to start somewhere," he said.

The provision that really smells, as Caplowe put it, is the easing of rules for nuclear companies that apply to build new sites in Florida.

Rep. Susan Bucher, D-West Palm Beach, the only lawmaker to vote against the measure, said the changes reduce citizen's ability to object to new power plants in their backyards.

But others said the provision streamlines applications to give nuclear companies incentive to come to Florida, thus reducing the state's dependence on foreign oil.

"For the first time you can incentivize the American people in Florida, saying stick it to Middle East oil," said Rep. Frank Atkisson, R-Kissimmee.

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http://www.bradenton.com

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Final Tallahassee Report Vol 13 NO 12

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