Remember, legislators are now in campaign mode – they will never be
more receptive to speaking to constituents about important issues than for the
next seven months. This is the perfect
time to educate them and to get their commitment to achieve environmental
goals! They want your vote.
Wins:
Fracking bills
HB 191 by Rep. Ray Rodrigues / SB 318 by Sen. Richter Regulation of
Oil and Gas
Sierra Club Florida, activists from around the state, and an array of
environmental organizations including the Conservancy for Southwest Florida, Food
and Water Watch, ReThink Energy, the League of Women voters, outworked the
fossil fuel industry and were rewarded with the defeat of the Senate bill in
the Appropriations committee on a 9 Yes – 10 No vote which killed the bill for
the year. Five Republican Senators
joined the five Democrats on the committee to defeat the bill. HB 191 had passed the full House 73-45 with
seven Republicans joining the Democrats in opposition.
The bill would have preempted all regulation of oil and gas
exploration, production, storage, and transportation to the state and would
have voided the local ordinances banning it in local jurisdictions. The legislation purported to regulate
fracking, but in fact limited any regulation and permitting to the process
least likely to be used in Florida. The
weak disclosure requirements and the study would have been limited to
“high-pressure well stimulation” and would not have included the acid-matrix
stimulation process used in Florida.
Families, businesses, medical personnel, and first responders would be
unable to find out what chemicals were used for fracking and injected through
their drinking water aquifer.
The bill will likely be back next session and the battle now shifts to the
counties and cities where ordinances banning fracking are already being
adopted. Over 75% of the population of
the state is represented by a local government that has adopted a resolution
urging a statewide ban on fracking – and they are now moving to establish bans
as well.
While we were able to kill the bad fracking bills, we were unable to
get even a single committee hearing for five separate bills that would have banned
fracking in Florida:
·
HB 19 Well Stimulation Treatments by Rep.
Jenne
·
SB 166 Oil and Natural Gas Producation or
Recovery by Sen. Soto
·
HJR 453 Well Stimulation by Rep. Javier Rodriguez
(constitutional amendment)
·
SJR 358 Hydraulic Fracturing by Sen. Ring
(constitutional amendment)
·
SM 688 Ban on Well Stimulation or Resource
Extraction by Sen. Sobel
On to next year!
Solar Tax Exemption Amendment
Renewable Energy Source Devices - SJR 170/ SB 172 by Sen.
Brandes and HJR 193/ HB 195 by Rep. Ray Rodrigues
The passage of Senate Joint Resolution 170 and House Joint Resolution
193 will put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to amend Florida’s
constitution to make it possible to exempt properties from real estate or
tangible property taxes on all renewable energy source devices such as solar
panels. Currently, thanks to a
constitutional amendment adopted by voters in 2008 and an implementing bill
passed in 2013, residential properties enjoy this exemption now. This year’s ballot issue would extend the exemption
to nonresidential properties as well.
The reason for the two types of exemption are addressed in the Senate
bill analysis:
“A renewable energy
source device may be installed on real property through two alternative methods
of ownership: the property owner may purchase and install the device, in which
case it becomes a part of the real property and subject to ad valorem tax, or
the property owner may lease the device from another person, with it remaining
separate and distinct property from the real property and subject to tangible
personal property tax. … This bill
proposes amendments to the State Constitution to prevent the application of
taxes to a renewable energy source device with either type of ownership.”
If adopted by 60% or more of the voters on August 30, 2016 (primary day
for state offices) the amendment will make it possible for the legislature to
pass a law exempting solar and other renewable energy source devices from ad
valorem taxes for 20 years.
The bills were originally filed to make the exemption effective on the adoption of the amendment by the voters, but it was amended to mirror the language used in the 2008 exemption for residential properties’ solar and renewable energy source devices – making the exemption dependent on the legislature passing a law to make it happen. In part, this was done to remove the ‘fiscal note’ – part of the required analysis of a bill that says how much it will cost. By removing the surety that the amendment would be implemented, the cost became indeterminate and was no longer an impediment to it passage. At the same time, advocates for providing incentives for investments in solar energy will have to work hard to get a bill passed. Utilities are strongly opposed to competition from solar energy.
Also, the vote on the constitutional amendment was moved from Tuesday,
November 8, 2016, the date of the General (presidential) election, to the
Primary Election day for State Offices three months earlier on August 30. It
will be important to get people out to the polls to support this amendment,
especially after the electric utilities succeeded in preventing the ‘Solar
Choice’ amendment from getting sufficient signatures by introducing their own
amendment which is now before the Supreme Court where it has been challenged on
the grounds that it is designed to mislead voters.
Building Code
The Building Code bills, HB 535 by Rep. Eagle and SB 704 by Sen. Hutson
addressed many subjects from the number of fire elevators needed in high rises
to who could work on HVAC systems in apartment complexes. Sierra Club Florida engaged on one section of
the bill that would have prevented Florida from keeping pace with the rest of
the nation on energy efficiency testing.
Section 29 of the bill would have kept Florida stuck with the 2010 code
instead of moving to the 2014 code and would have prohibited requiring a
“blower door test” to know how much air leaks in or out of a building and
therefore, what size the AC should be which is important for both energy use
and humidity control, and whether it is an energy efficient building or
not.
Moving to the new code and keeping the blower door test is a win for
consumers and the environment. It was
necessary to compromise with the homebuilders who had opposed moving to the new
code by phasing in the effective date of the 2014 code and the blower door
test. The new code becomes effective in
July 2017 and only construction permitted after that date will have to pass the
blower door test. Sierra Club Florida
worked with lobbyists for SACE, the Florida Association for Insurance Reform
and a blower door testing provider to get this win.
Land Application of Septage
SB 658 by Sen. Evers and HB 851 by Rep. Drake – Onsite Sewage
Treatment and Disposal Systems would have finally repealed the prohibition
of land application of septage (the stuff they pump out of septic tanks.) Rep. Drake’s HB 851 passed the full House,
but the Senate bill was never heard in its first committee (Thanks to Sen.
Dean, Chairman of Senate Environmental Protection and Conservation!) and the
bills died. There were attempts to
insert amendments to delay the effective date of the prohibition, but they
failed as well.
The prohibition was originally passed in Sen. Constantine’s 2010 water
bill. (Former Sen. Constantine is now a
Seminole County Commissioner.) The bill
gave pumpout operators and owners of septic tanks five and a half years to
prepare for the prohibition to take effect.
Unfortunately, their main efforts were directed at repealing the prohibition
instead of preparing for it. Sierra
Club, Audubon, and Conservancy for Southwest Florida have been working on the
issue for the last five years.
Septic tank companies and small counties complain that the prohibition
of land application as a way to get rid of septage will increase costs for
their customers and residents, but there was no willingness to take
responsibility for the costs imposed on the public due to pollution entering
our waters. The majority of land
application sites permitted by the Dept. of Health are in the springs
protection zone – in a karstic area of the state.
Anti-Clean Power Plan bills
Sierra Club Florida and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
successfully opposed HB 639 by Rep. Manny Diaz and SB 838 by Sen. Evers. The bills titled Carbon Dioxide Emissions
from Existing Stationary Sources would have prevented Florida from meeting
its obligations under President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. It’s said that ‘politics makes strange
bedfellows’ and this was an example.
Some of our allies included the electrical utilities who want the
Florida to have the flexibility provided by creating a State Implementation
Plan (SIP) that allows the state to figure out how it will meet its reduced
emission goals. Had the bills passed,
the federal government would have imposed a Federal Implementation Plan without
input from the state.
HB 639 passed its first committee but died in the second and SB 838 was
not heard in its first committee.
Clay Settling Areas
Sierra Club Florida was able to get clarifying language for land
reclamation schedules and fines related to clay settling areas used in
phosphate mining. The issue was this:
One of the methods used in mining phosphate is to separate the mined material
with water. The phosphate is removed and the remaining mud is left to settle in
a ‘clay settling area’. Miners proposed
to re-use the same settling area by transporting the slurry from other parts of
the mine rather than establishing a new one in each new area. While this reduces the overall footprint of
settling areas, it ran afoul of the required deadlines for land reclamation
because the settling area is not reclaimed at the same time as the rest of the
area it is -located in.
HB 589 Environmental Control by Rep. Pigman and SB 1052 by Sen.
Hays were amended to make it clear that the reclamation deadlines and the fines
imposed for not meeting the schedule come into effect as soon as the clay
settling area is no longer being used to service other parts of the mine.
Panther Penalties
A close reading of the FWC bill, HB 7013, which categorized violations
of FWC regulations and organized their associated penalties into four tiers
revealed that the penalty for killing a Florida Panther would have been reduced
because repeat offenders would no longer be subject to enhanced penalties. A simple call to the FWC resulted in a quick
amendment to bring the penalties back in line for killing a Florida Panther. They should all be this easy! (Thanks to the FWC for their quick response.)
Keys Stewardship Act
Sierra worked with 1000 Friends of Florida and the lobbyists for Monroe
County to get amendments to HB 447 by Rep. Raschein and SB 770 by Sen. Simpson to
make it clear that the funds provided through the local government
infrastructure tax would not be used to expand US 1 to reduce evacuation times
and thereby allow additional development, but that they would be used to
prevent property rights claims resulting from limitations imposed by the
designation of an area of critical state concern. The bill now includes a specific prohibition
on purchasing land to expand roadways to reduce evacuation times.
Language that would have allowed Everglades Restoration bonds funds to
be used for reverse osmosis was removed from the bill. Stormwater and canal restoration will be
eligible for water quality purposes. The
bill also provides for at least $5 million from Florida Forever for land
acquisition within the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern for ten
years starting in 2017.
$5 million will come from general revenue this year to be spent in
various categories including “constructing sewage collection, treatment, and
disposal facilities; implementing stormwater collection and treatment systems;
canal restoration and muck remediation projects; and projects that protect and
enhance water supply in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern and the
City of Key West Area of Critical State Concern or, for the purposes of land
acquisition within the Florida Keys Area of Critical Concern as authorized
pursuant to s. 259.045, Florida Statutes, with increased priority given to
those acquisitions that achieve a combination of conservation goals, including
protecting Florida's water resources and natural groundwater recharge.”
Organizational Structure of DEP
HB 561 by Rep. Combee and SB 400 by Sen. Hays started out as bills that
would have given the Secretary of the Department the ability to establish or
eliminate all the divisions and offices of DEP.
That would have included the division of State Parks. The final version of the bill leaves all of
the divisions intact and adds a new one: the Division of Water Restoration
Assistance. Sierra worked with Audubon
and other environmental groups to get this bill amended.
Gainesville Regional Utility
HB 1355 by Rep. Perry was a local
bill that called for the establishment of an unaccountable appointed board to
run the utility. Local
government input would be limited to appointing members of the board. They would not be able to remove board
members except for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of
duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform
official duties, or conviction of a felony or misdemeanor.
This
bill would render the newly created Utility Advisory Board moot since the UAB
would not be allowed to advise the new governance board.
The
Gainesville City Commission and the Alachua County Commission both voted
unanimously to oppose HB 1355 and Sierra Club Florida joined their lobbyists in
opposing the bill. Still, the
legislature passed the bill and sent it to Governor Scott… who vetoed it on the
grounds that:
“…the
bill provides compensation for each of the five appointed members of the
Authority of up to $18,000 annually and allows salaries to be adjusted each
year based on the Consumer Price Index. Across Florida, hundreds of appointees
serve on boards with critical governance and regulatory responsibilities for
which the appointees are not compensated. The success of similar utility
authorities that do not compensate board members demonstrates that qualified
individuals will answer the call to serve the public, without consideration of
a taxpayer supported payment.”
Had Gov. Scott not
vetoed the bill there would have had to be a referendum on whether to amend the
Charter of the City of Gainesville to create the Gainesville Regional Utilities
Authority as the governing board of Gainesville Regional Utilities.
Losses
Water Bill
SB 552 by Sen. Dean and HB 7005 by Rep. Caldwell Environmental
Resources was the first legislation passed in this year’s session. While Sierra Club and our allies were able to
get some necessary changes into the bill, it largely ignores any requirement
for water conservation and relies on the use of Basin Management Action Plans
(BMAPs) and Best Management Practices (BMPs) to achieve water quality
goals.
The bill is the culmination of three years of work that started with
Sen. Dean’s promising SB 1576 of 2014, the “Florida Springs and Aquifer
Protection Act.” 1576 was passed by the
full Senate, but the House passed nothing and the bill died. In 2015 both chambers moved legislation that
turned over considerable responsibility for water quality protection to the
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and required any demand for
water to be accommodated by taxpayer funded water supply instead of modifying
Comprehensive Use Permits or requiring water conservation. The legislation died when the House adjourned
three days early.
This year’s bill is an improvement on last year’s version – in
particular, DEP is back in charge of water quality instead of DACS. There are also provisions requiring
inspection and evaluation of BMPs and this year’s budget includes funding for
DACS staff to do the inspections.
However, the issue of septic tanks in the primary focus areas of
springs, loopholes allowing the withdrawal of groundwater to go unreported, and
the lack of meaningful water conservation requirements meant Sierra had to
oppose the bill in its final form.
State Lands
Despite the best efforts of Sierra Club Florida staff and volunteers
the State Lands bill passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor. This is a disappointing
outcome for the volunteers who lobbied their legislators to stop a key
provision eliminating the requirement that conservation land management plans
be consistent with the purposes for which the lands were acquired. Instead, the
bill requires only that the plans be compatible with “conservation, recreation,
or both.” Using the broad categories of “conservation” and “recreation” grants
DEP significant discretion and may lead to incompatible uses such as grazing,
timbering, hunting, and off road vehicle trails.
Club members will have to stay vigilant for news of land management
plan updates in their area and keep a sharp eye on proposals for inappropriate
activities on conservation lands, particularly in our state parks.
The legislation - HB 1075 by Rep. Caldwell and SB 1290 by Sen. Simpson
- contained multiple controversial issues when it was filed. While Sierra Club
Florida opposed the final version of the bill, it was far better when it passed
than when it started. The bill is particularly
important because its policies will affect land held by the State of Florida
including 3,146,040 acres of
conservation land, 800,000 acres of which are state parks.
The issues in the bill fell into four categories:
·
using Amendment 1 funds for construction of
infrastructure,
·
surplusing lands,
·
exchanging state land in return for permanent
conservation easements on privately-held contiguous land and on the state land
with the potential loss of public access, and
·
changing the management of land from the current
requirement
that it be consistent with the purpose for which it was purchased to being
compatible with conservation or recreational purposes.
Representatives of the environmental community met with the sponsors
and staff and were able to arrive at mutually agreeable language on some
issues. The sponsors agreed to strike
the section of the bill that would have allowed the use of Amendment 1 funds
for “construction of treatment, transmission, or distribution facilities.”
The sponsors also agreed to clarify that when land management plans are
updated, only lands that might be suitable for surplusing would have to be
identified as such instead of the original language that required lands be
identified for consideration for surplusing in every plan update. Finally, the section of the bill that would
have required conservation land to be considered for surplusing if it had not
met its short-term goals (2 years) was changed to bring the acquisition and
restoration council (ARC) into the process to look at whether the goals were
appropriate, whether the managing entity should be changed, or if surplusing
should be considered.
The section of the bill dealing with the exchange of state land in
return for permanent conservation easements on both the state land and
contiguous private property also saw some improvements: the exchange had to
result in a net-positive conservation benefit and the ARC was again brought
into the process and required to make recommendations. However, neither Sierra Club Florida nor the
Conservancy for Southwest Florida were able to get an explicit requirement that
the ARC recommendation include consideration of whether the exchange was a
net-positive conservation benefit. We
were also unable to get state parks and preserves exempted from the land
exchange section – a particular concern because of the potential loss of public
access.
Styrofoam Preemption
The Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services bills, HB 7007 by the
House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee and SB 1010 by Sen.
Montford, started out as fairly innocuous bills dealing with a number of DACS’s
issues. But HB 7007 was amended in
committee to preempt the regulation of polystyrene (Styrofoam) to the
Department for all entities under chapter 500.
South Florida cities, Surfrider, and Sierra tried to push back the date
of the preemption to April 1, 2016 which would have allowed Coral Gables to
retain the ordinance it passed earlier this year and Orange County would have
had the time to complete its referendum process – there have already been two
public hearings and the election was already scheduled.
The bill allows local jurisdictions to regulate the use of Styrofoam by
individuals or temporary vendors on public property or entities in a contractual
relationship with the local government.
But restaurants, convenience stores, and supermarkets will be able to
keep on using Styrofoam even if the community objects. The cities in South Florida whose ordinances
predate Jan. 1, 2016 will be able to keep their bans or regulations.
Disposable Plastic Bags
SB 306 by Sen. Bullard passed its first committee of reference but was
never heard in its second. HB 143 by
Rep. Richardson was not heard in committee so the categorical preemption of
regulation of plastic bags remains in effect.
SB 306 / HB 143 would have created a pilot program where coastal
communities with fewer than 100,000 residents could have regulated or banned
disposable plastic bags through June 30,
2019 as long as the ordinance did not include any new taxes or fees. Communities that implemented such a pilot
program would have been required to submit a report to both the governing body
of the municipality and to DEP. This is
the second year the Senate version of the bill has passed its first
committee. The challenge for next year
will be getting the House bill heard in committee.
Good bills that were never heard in committee
Bears
HB 1055 and SB 1096 by Rep. Pafford and Sen. Soto would have
established a “bear-resistant garbage container account” from which counties
and cities could have borrowed funds to purchase bear-resistant containers for
distribution to residents. The bills would also have prohibited issuing permits
to harvest saw palmetto berries on state lands identified as black bear habitat
and would have required burn schedules to be adjusted for the regrowth of
vegetation that provides food for bears.
SB 1674 by Sen. Sachs would have prohibited placing bear attracting
garbage in outdoor receptacles in high human-bear conflict areas unless the
receptacle was bear-resistant.
Electric Vehicles
Sen. Soto agreed to amend his bill for Electric Vehicles to match the
goals of Drive Electric Florida including a sales tax exemption and reasonable
provisions for charging infrastructure, including in multi-unit dwellings. The
bill was not heard in committee.
Climate Change
HB 1223 by Rep. Jacobs and SB 1544 by Sen. Clemens, Weather Impacts,
would have created an interagency workgroup to share information on current and
potential impacts of weather events in the state that would have included
extreme heat, drought, sea-level change, high tides, storm surge, saltwater
intrusion, stormwater runoff, and flooding.
The workgroup would have been required to create a uniform vulnerability
assessment based on current scientific literature and to issue an annual report
to be delivered to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the President of
the Senate. The reports would also be
posted on the Division of Emergency Management’s website.
Budget
Notes:
· The budget for 2016-17 totals $82.3 billion and
devotes $1.5 billion to DEP (1.89%). DEP
staff was cut by 41 positions from last year.
Since the 2010-11 fiscal year, DEP staffing has fallen from 3551 to the
current 2933.5 for a 17.4% reduction.
·
Energy – The Office of Energy in DACS is
allocated a total of $24 million. Almost
$14 million in a new line item goes to the Bio-Fuel Infrastructure Partnership
(almost completely funded by the US Dept. of Agriculture) and $6 million goes
to the Natural Gas Fleet Vehicle Rebate Program (funded from General Revenue
(sales tax)), same as last year’s 2015-16 budget. There are no rebates for energy efficient
appliances as was the case in the past.
· The FWC budget includes $500,000 under ‘Nuisance
Wildlife Control’ from the State Game Trust Fund that may be distributed to
counties or local governments to cost-share the purchase of bear-resistant
garbage containers. At least 60 percent
of those funds shall go to counties or local governments having an ordinance in
place focused on resolving issues associated with bear attractants and garbage
The budget adopted by the legislature can be seen at this link: http://myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=er_GAA.pdf&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=5001&Session=2016
Amendment 1 funding in Millions:
Thanks to Florida Conservation Voters for the budget spreadsheet. Some totals may not add up due to rounding.
Debt Service - $175.7M
·
Line 1535 $150
M
o
From LATF
o
To Florida Forever bonds debt service
·
Line 1589 $25.7M
o
From LATF
o
To Save Our Everglades bonds debt service
Everglades Restoration - $215.2M
·
Line 1590 $132
M
o
100M from Save Our Everglades TF and 32M from
LATF
o
100M to CERP and 32M to Restoration Strategies
Regional Water Quality Plan (10 year commitment)
·
Line 1590A 55.1
($56M including non LATF funding)
o
1.7M from GR and 55.1M from LATF
o
At least 47.8M to NEEPP and up to 9M to relieve
discharges to Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers and estuaries
·
Line 1588 $27.7M
o
From LATF
o
To SFWMD for land acquisition
§
Lake Hicpochee N. Hydrologic Enhancement Project
§
Picayune Strand Restoration Project
§
Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project
·
Line 1585 $0.35
M ($350,000)
o
From LATF
o
To Lake O Basin – operations
Springs - $50M
·
Line 1600 $50
M
o
From LATF
o
To land acquisition to protect springs and for
capital projects that protect the quality and quantity of water that flow from
springs. DEP, in conjunction with DACS,
is to report by Dec. 1, 2016 on the status of TMDLs, BMAPs, MFLs, recovery or
prevention strategies, and implementation of BMPs for all first magnitude and
other significant springs.
Beaches – $21.2 M ($32.5
total including non LATF funding)
·
Line 1602 $21.2M
from LATF and $11.4 M from GR
o
To Beach Management Funding Assistance Program –
Beach Restoration and Nourishment projects 1- 9 and 11-17
Historic Preservation - $2M ($2.4M including non LATF funding)
·
Line 3071 $0.5M
from LATF
o
To Historic properties maintenance
·
Line 3073
o
$1.5 M from LATF
o
$0.118 M from Federal Grants TF
o
$0.27 M from GR
o
To entirety of ranked list of Small Matching
Grants on Dept. of State website
Land Acquisition - $60.5 M
·
Line 1533 – 50.1M
o
From Florida Forever TF (which is funded by a
transfer from LATF)
o
To:
§
$35M – to DACS - for Rural and Family Lands
permanent conservation easements
§
The remainder, $15.1 M for Florida Forever - to
be used for approved priority ARC list projects or water resource development
projects
·
Line 1534 - $10M
o
From Florida Forever TF
o
To Florida Communities Trust
·
Line 1698A - $0.4M ($13.4M including non LATF
funding)
o
$ 400,000 from LATF
o
$10M from GR
o
$3M from Federal Grants TF
o
To Florida Recreation Development Assistance
Program to provide recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities
Land Management - $137.1M (includes subtraction of Governor’s veto
of line 1379B)
There are a large number of categories under this heading. Land management includes parks, invasive
species, enhanced wildlife management, and some restoration projects.
The agencies received:
·
DACS - $10.9
·
DEP - $52.2M – includes $18.8M for state parks
·
FWC - $73.8M
Salaries and related expenses – Operations $191.3M
Again, there are a large number of categories. Agencies received:
·
DACS - $63.2M
·
DEP - $88.4M
·
DOS - $7.2MT
·
FWC - $32.4M
Nutrient Reduction and Water Storage $30.4M ($41.8M including non
LATF funding)
·
Line 1344
o
$24.2 M from LATF
o
$ 1.4M from General Inspection TF
o
$10M from General Revenue
o
For Agricultural BMPs
·
Line 1586
o
$5M from LATF
o
For Dispersed water storage
·
Line 1623A
o
$1.2M from LATF
o
For TMDLs
Regulatory/pollution control – $16.5M
·
Line 1345A
o
$15M From LATF
o
For Okeechobee Agricultural Restoration Projects
·
Line 1581
o
$1.5M from LATF
o
To NFWMD to establish MFLs
