SCCF provides 2023 legislative wrap-up

By SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION

Foundation

While the 2023 legislative session may have ended on May 5, the final outcome for multiple bills didn't occur until June 30 After the end of session, the governor has until the beginning of the July 1 fiscal year over two months to review the budget for potential cuts and to sign or veto the 320 bills that passed through both the House and Senate While this may seem like a lot of bills to evaluate, it was a fraction of the 2,737 bills that were originally filed this session

State budget

The governor used his line-item veto power to trim the $117 billion budget approved by legislators After cutting $500 million, the 2023-24 budget was signed totaling a recordbreaking $116 5 billion

Some of the notable environmental items approved in the budget are:

∫ $850 million Florida Wildlife Corridor l a n d a c q u i s i t i o n , i n c l u d i n g p r o p e r t i e s i n Southwest Florida between Dinner Key in Hendry County and Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area in Collier County

∫ $625 million Everglades Restoration

∫ $100 million Florida Forever Land Acquisition Program

∫ $ 2 5 m i l l i o n C a l o o s a h a t c h e e R i v e r Watershed Water Quality Improvements

∫ $2 0 million H armful A lgal Bloom Mitigation

∫ $5 million Red-Tide Debris Clean-up

∫ $76 million Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection

Vetoed:

∫ $100 million Rural and Family Lands

A c q u i s i t i o n a n d C o n s e r v a t i o n E a s e m e n t

Program

P a s s e d : W i t h o u t a p p r o p r i a t e n o t i c e o r opportunity for debate or public input, budget language Line item 146 in SB 2500 was added late in the process to the budget that will ban new or amended ordinances limiting the use of fertilizer Although Sanibel has strong fertilizer rules in place, this language will prevent other jurisdictions from enacting the same protections and could contribute to over-fertilization, resulting in negative impacts to our water quality

T h e S a n i b e l - C a p t i v a C o n s e r v a t i o n Foundation strongly opposed and called for a veto of this effort by the fertilizer industry to prevent cities and counties from enforcing their own environmental protections This language represents a concerning step backwards in the gains made to combat and prevent bluegreen algae and red tide blooms Although it was inserted in the name of research, this ban undermines the science and work that has already been done to improve the water quality of our state

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Environmental legislation

Each session, thousands of bills are filed and move rapidly through the committee process where they are changed, amended or combined The SCCF tracks the bills that have the potential to impact Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems Environmental advocates were encouraged early on by the governor’s Executive Order 23-06 “Achieving Even More Now for Florida’s Environment ”

That enthusiasm turned to disappointment as it became quickly clear that the Legislature was pursuing business as usual with the introduction of bills designed to deal a final blow to community planning efforts and to further dismantle local control through a number of “preemption” bills As the bills worked their way through committees with little resistance, growth management advocates dubbed this “the session of sprawl ” The bright spots were a c o n t i n u e d c o m m i t m e n t t o E v e r g l a d e s restoration, funding for wildlife corridors, and additional measures to address wastewater infrastructure

Below are the final outcomes of some of the priority bills that the SCCF tracked:

Water quality

Passed: The SCCF supported HB 1379 Environmental Regulation, which evolved over the session to support the Department of E n v i r o n m e n t a l P r o t e c t i o n ’ s e f f o r t s t o strengthen wastewater infrastructure requirements, provide grants for projects that reduce nutrient pollution entering waters that are not a t t a i n i n g n u t r i e n t - r e l a t e d s t a n d a r d s , a n d establish annual funding of and administrative changes to the Florida Forever land acquisition program

Failed: The SCCF strongly supported SB 1 5 3 8 I m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e Recommendations of the Blue/Green Algae T a s k F o r c e a n d H B 1 7 7 T h e S a f e W a t e r w a y s A c t , w h i c h r e q u i r e d t h e Department of Health to issue certain public advisories regarding contaminated waterways. Both of the bills have been filed the last two sessions, and both were supported in their committee stops but neither received enough support to make it over the finish line We expect both bills to be refiled next session

Failed: The SCCF strongly opposed HB 1197 and SB 1240 Land and Water Management, which would have preempted local governments from passing rules related to water quality, quantity, pollution control and wetlands protections This was one of the most egregious bills of the session. Thankfully, it did not receive a wide base of support

Passed: The SCCF opposed SB 1258/HB

1191 Use of Phosphogypsum (in roads)

The bill allows for demonstration projects and studies around the use of incorporating this byproduct of phosphate mining into road bed construction Phosphogypsum is known to emit radioactive gas, radon and other radioactive elements There is great concern that any leachate, even from demonstration projects, will be dangerous for our aquifers and detrimental to water quality. Despite a statewide veto campaign by over 50 environmental organizations, Gov Ron DeSantis signed this bill into law

Climate change/resiliency/ sea level rise

Passed: The SCCF supported HB 111/SB 1 1 7 0 F l o o d i n g a n d S e a L e v e l R i s e Vulnerability Studies, which expands the requirement for Sea Level Rise Projection (SLIP) studies to include any structure at risk of sea level rise These studies analyze how sea level rise and coastal hazards may impact planned construction projects funded with state money Currently, SLIP studies have only been required for structures in the coastal building zone. In addition, the bills expand items that the Resiliency Florida program can fund for counties and municipalities to include “feasibility studies and the cost of permitting for innovative measures that reduce the impact of flooding and sea level rise and focus on nature-based solutions ”

Failed: The SCCF also supported SB 734 S a l t w a t e r I n t r u s i o n V u l n e r a b i l i t y Assessments, which would have authorized the DEP to provide grants and cost-share funding to coastal counties to examine the vulnerability of their water supply to encroaching seawater The proposed legislation would also have required study updates to be available on the DEP website This bill did pass the full Senate but was not taken up in the House in time for a vote

Growth management

Passed: The SCCF strongly opposed SB 540 Local Government Comprehensive Plans, which allows for prevailing and intervening parties' attorney fees to be awarded in citizen challenges to local growth management plans This bill presents a devastating erosion of citizens’ rights to participate in their local government process This bill promotes sprawl and is a direct threat to the health of our water quality Unfortunately, the governor signed this bill into law amid a large-scale environmental advocacy effort to veto The chilling effect of this law will effectively bring an end to community planning efforts in Florida

See SCCF, page 5