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Legislative Issues


Federal

American Rivers River Action Day in Washington, D.C.

2008 - Another successful River Action Day in Washington, D.C.

group at capitol July-August 2008 Member Update:
This year we once again participated in American Rivers River Action Day in Washington, D.C. to lobby on behalf of initiatives to protect and preserve the health of our nation's rivers.

We joined more than 111 advocates from 36 states to meet with 205 congressional offices, emphasizing water quality legislation and funding support for Everglades restoration. In addition to Everglades support we focused on the Raw Sewage Right to Know Act, Clean Water Restoration Act, Global Warming Cap and Trade legislation and the 40th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

We have been lobbying for two years, along with American Rivers, for the Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know bill. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill, which requires sewage treatment plants to notify the public in the event of a sewage spill.

Right: Karen Bickford from Lee County Natural Resources, Rae Ann Wessel, Jennifer Hecker of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and Susan Kennedy of the Everglades Foundation at the U.S. Capitol in June 2008.

2007 River Action Day

November 2007 Member Update:
The Caloosahatchee had a voice in Washington, DC in September when we traveled to Capitol Hill with river advocates from around the country to push for greater protection of rivers and clean water. The trip, which was coordinated by American Rivers, gave us the opportunity to meet with our own delegation and a broader Florida leadership including the offices of Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, Representatives Ron Cline, Connie Mack and Tim Mahoney as well as John Anderson, the Director of the Water Resources and Environment subcommittee and the majority senior policy advisor to Barbara Boxer, Chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works subcommittee.

raw at capitolOur discussions focused on legislation to safeguard our rivers and tributaries by improving water quality and promoting healthy rivers in communities across the country. We requested their support of four important bills with impacts here in Florida: the Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right to Know Act, Clean Water Restoration Act, Wild and Scenic River Legislation, and their continued support of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).

Sewage Overflow Right-to-Know

The Sewage Overflow Community Right to Know Act, H.R. 2452 & S. 2080, is timely in our own backyard right now. Every year raw sewage spills into our rivers, lakes and coastal waters with no public notification required. In Florida sewage system owners and operators are only required to report overflows in excess of 1,000 gallons within 24 hours of an event. However, the State has no provision for notification of the public that a spill occurred. The Health Department does test the water off our beaches regularly but the beach is posted only when a water quality violation is found. This lack of public notification of raw sewage spills could endanger the health and safety of our fishing and swimming public. We have a right to know and we urge support of this bill. Every member of our delegation expressed support of this legislation; Representative Cline was a co-sponsor.

Clean Water Restoration Act

The Clean Water Restoration Act, H.R 2421 &S.1870 will restore critical Clean Water Act (CWA) protections to our waters, including wetlands and intermittent streams. This bill reasserts the original intent of the Clean Water Act to provide protection for our waters. These protections were changed by a recent Supreme Court case, Rapanos, that determined that non-navigable waters are not subject to the provisions of the CWA.
This bill deletes the term ‘navigable’ from the CWA to return protections to wetlands and intermittent water bodies -- in Florida, these dry down by design during our long dry season. The Rapanos decision is a direct threat to our many wetlands and intermittent streams, which are vital to protect and enhance drinking water, fishing, swimming and wildlife habitat.
We encouraged support of this critical change to the definitions but did not find broad support for this issue with our legislative delegation. Our Florida delegation needs to hear how important this issue is to our quality of life and natural systems.

Wild and Scenic Rivers designation

Another issue we advocated was an initiative to designate 40 new Wild and Scenic Rivers in the US. Only two rivers of the more than 1,700 rivers in Florida are designated as Wild and Scenic; the Loxahatchee and Wekiva. In our discussions with legislators, there were several potential candidates mentioned including Fisheating Creek, the Myakka River and Telegraph Creek. We urge support of these worthy candidates from southwest Florida.

Water Resources Development Act

We were lucky to be in Washington just as the Senate brought the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Sitting in the Senate gallery we had an opportunity to observe the Senate discussion of the WRDA bill. It passed the Senate 81 to 12. The President has threatened to veto the bill. We are urging Congress to support an override, which could well be successful since 90% of Congress voted for the bill.
WRDA funds the Federal cost share of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in Florida as well as water projects in other states. The bill is designed to pass every two years but the last one was passed in 2000.

State

Backpumping to Lake Okeechobee

April 23, 2008 - HB 7143 comes up on the Florida House floor today and Amendment No. 024305 has been added. This amendment would undermine the decision made last year by the SFWMD Governing Board to disallow backpumping into the Lake. For more on Backpumping...

Letter to House leaders sent April 23, 2008

Community Budget Initiatives

Letter to members of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation re funding, dated April 25, 2008
Letter to local House and Senate legislators re funding, dated April 25, 2008

Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Issues

March 2008 Member Update:
DCA is proposing several initiatives for the 2008 legislative session that we will be tracking including Everglades protection, coastal management and citizens planning bill of rights.

Fertilizer

The Clean Water Network of Florida has prepared a report: "The Gulf of Mexico, Florida's Toilet:  How Sewage Discharges are Fouling Florida's Gulf of Mexico Tributaries, Estuaries & Coastal Waters"
Read the Report
See Florida stats by county

Florida Consumer Fertilizer Task Force Final Report to the 2008 Florida Legislature - Jan. 15, 2008

A Statewide Consumer Fertilizer Task Force has been working to modify fertilizer formulations and application guidelines for use statewide. We have been working to strengthen the regulations to make them more protective of water quality and free of pre-emption language.

Letter to Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, dated April 14, 2008
Letter to Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, dated April 3, 2008
Letter to Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, dated April 2, 2008

Letter from Rep. Bryan Nelson to Rep. Lopez-Cantera about the fertilizer bill, dated March 18, 2008


December 2007 Member Update:
We are also engaged in making recommendations to the Consumer Fertilizer Taskforce on revisions to the Statewide Fertilizer Rule which is being fast-tracked for presentation to the legislature in January 2008. Many of the issues are the same as those identified above for our local ordinance, but a meaningful Statewide rule would provide a uniform guideline for formulation of fertilizer, training/certification of professionals and educational programs for the public.

Florida Forever

Letter to House Speaker Marco Rubio supporting funding, dated April 7, 2008


Healthy Beaches – Wastewater Management

Reprinted courtesy of the Island Reporter, from the May 1, 2008 issue:

Denham’s HB 1503 approved by Florida’s House
Special to the REPORTER

Good government legislation that would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to determine whether sewage spills lead to beach closings was approved by the Florida House of Representatives on Monday. The vote was unanimous.

House Bill (HB) 1503, brought forward by Sanibel Mayor Mick Denham and sponsored in the House by Representative Gary Aubuchon (R-Cape Coral), requires the DEP to investigate wastewater treatment facilities within a one-mile radius of any beach affected by a health advisory issued by the Department of Health that prohibits swimming.

Upon completion of its investigation, DEP is required to notify the relevant local government whether a wastewater treatment facility experienced an incident which may have contributed to the contamination and the resulting health advisory.

“Today, when your local beach is closed because of contaminated waters, the state’s involvement essentially begins and ends with posting a sign that says ‘no swimming,’” said Aubuchon. “In Southwest Florida, our tourism economy is dependent on keeping our beaches clean and open. It seemed to me that it would make much more sense for responsible state agencies to dig deeper and not just close the beach, but find out who is responsible for the beach being closed. This bill basically helps us address a problem by investigating the root of the problem.”

HB 1503 now goes before the Florida Senate for consideration. Senator Mike Bennett (R-21) is the sponsor of the identical Senate bill, SB 1634. If approved by the upper chamber and signed by Governor Charlie Crist, HB 1503 would become effective July 1, 2008.

Follow the link below for the story on the Island Reporter website:
http://island-reporter.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=4482

Pollutant Credit Trading

We are watching this legislative session for proposals from both DEP and industry regarding this “mitigation banking” proposal for pollution. Seen as a way to more “efficiently” reach water quality goals similar to trading CO2 or Green credits, we want to be assured that real water quality is achieved and not moved around shell-game fashion.

Stormwater

A statewide rule to require longer retention and better treatment of water that washes off the landscape before it flows into surface waters. We will be tracking the development and working to seek the strongest protections from the number one pollutant source in Florida, stormwater. We are watching this legislative session for bills that may address stormwater regulation.

Wetlands Pre-emption Legislation

Letter to Senator Dave Aronberg re Senate Bill 1376, dated April 21, 2008

Regional/Local

Fertilizer

Lee County Fertilizer Ordinance

BOCC Public Hearing on May 13
The next public hearing for the fertilizer ordinance before the Lee County Commission is scheduled for 5 p.m., Tuesday, May 13 in the Lee County Courthouse in Fort Myers.

Letter to Lee County Board of County Commissioners dated May 12, 2008

January 2008 Member Update:
On December 4 the Lee County Commission heard our concerns and those of other community stakeholders and voted to direct staff to develop a stronger fertilizer ordinance. SCCF has been involved with and supportive of Mayor Denham’s fertilizer initiative through the Regional Planning Council's watershed subcommittee. Together we advocated for a stronger ordinance, including: adjusting the scope to include homeowners; adding the month of June to the rainy season blackout; establishing nitrogen formula limits and application rates and fertilizer-free buffer zones from wetlands and water bodies. You can view our letter and the draft of the ordinance on our website, www.sccf.org. A revised ordinance will come back for review and public comment in the next few months.

December 2007 Member Update:
When it comes to water quality, it is what we do on land that determines the quality of our water. In an effort to address sources of pollution, Sanibel Mayor Mick Denham, as chair of a Regional Planning Council subcommittee, has identified four initiatives for improving water quality throughout the region. Fertilizer use, wastewater discharges, regional water drainage and stormwater runoff will be addressed through development of resolutions presented to the members of the Council for adoption in their communities.

Fertilizer use was the first initiative to be introduced to the Council and has resulted in several communities adopting local ordinances. Sanibel was the first municipality to pass a fertilizer ordinance designed to reduce the phosphorus and nitrogen content in fertilizer, require the use of slow release formulas, provide for rainy season blackout periods and fertilizer-free buffers from the edge of wetlands and waterbodies. Sarasota County has passed an ordinance and Lee County is in the review and public comment period for their ordinance.

We applaud Lee County for committing to the development of a fertilizer ordinance but are asking them to consider a stronger ordinance than has been drafted. Specifically, the Lee County ordinance has been drafted to apply only to landscape professionals and would not apply to homeowners. This limited focus leaves out the largest segment of the population using fertilizers and undermines our opportunity to educate the public about the affect of fertilizer runoff on water. We encourage you to share your comments in support of a strong ordinance with the Commissioners. We have posted our letter and technical recommendations on our website, www.sccf.org. We suggest:
  • Include all fertilizer applicators in the ordinance, both professional and homeowner;
  • Expand the restricted rainy season blackout for application of fertilizer to include June. Average rain fall in June is 27% of the rainy season total;
  • Adopt the state Fertilizer Rule limitation of 0.25 pounds of phosphorus per 1000 sf/application and 0.50 pounds per 1000 sf/year;
  • Require that fertilizer contain no less than 50% slow release nitrogen;
  • Establish a 25-foot fertilizer-free buffer zone adjacent to wetlands and waterbodies to follow the requirements in State wetland permits;
  • Strongly encourage a six-foot low maintenance zone adjacent to wetlands and waterbodies;
  • Provide for public information and retail signage.
A resolution to address wastewater treatment and package plant discharges is currently under development to encourage the reduction and elimination of surface water discharges of treated wastewater. Nowhere is this issue more current than on Sanibel, where high levels of enterococcus caused recent beach closures. Throughout Lee County and the region this is an important issue for public health and safety as well as nutrient loading of our rivers and coastal waters.

In coming months, resolutions will be drafted to address the remaining two initiatives.

Lee County Fertilizer Ordinance draft
Letter to Lee BOCC re the Fertilizer Ordinance, dated Nov. 30, 2007

Charlotte County Fertilizer Ordinance