2024 Legislative Update - Week 7
Feb. 23, 2024
Environmental bill updates from the seventh week of Florida's Legislative Session include:
 
  • Senate approves bill that uses gaming revenue for conservation
  • Senate Energy Resources bill removes references to climate change
  • Safe Waterway bill passes all committees in the House, stalled in Senate

Most of leadership's priorities — from social media controls to health care — have advanced, but for those bills that have not yet made it through the committee process, time is running out. With only two weeks left in the 2024 legislative session, the focus will shift toward resolving the differences between the House and Senate budgets.
Funding for Environmental Resource Management—SB 1638 by Sen. Travis Hutson, passed through the full Senate and is on the way to the House this week by a vote of 37-0. This bill authorizes $536 million of revenue from the Seminole Gaming Compact for conservation grant programs, for the acquisition and management of conservation easements on private land, and for identification and prioritization of critical clean water infrastructure investments. The bill also:
 
  • Appropriates $5 million to the DEP to coordinate with the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University to conduct a study to identify and analyze potential regional projects that meet the eligibility requirements of the Water Quality Improvement Grant Program.
 
  • Appropriates $150 million from the General Revenue Fund to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for operations and maintenance. The SFWMD shall enter into a contract with the Water School and Florida Gulf Coast University to conduct a study of the health and ecosystem of Lake Okeechobee.
 
The House version, HB 1417, by Rep. James Buchanan, also passed its committee stops and is scheduled to be heard by the full House. Pending any amendments, this bill is likely to pass. 

The funding from this compact would supplement money for the State’s conservation efforts allocated from a 2014 voter approved constitutional amendment that requires a portion of money collected through documentary stamp taxes on real estate transactions to go toward state land acquisition. 
Energy – SB 1624 by Sen. Jay Collins passed its second to last committee this week by a vote of 6-3 and is on the Senate Fiscal Policy agenda for 9 a.m. on Feb. 27. The committee debate was fraught with questions to the bill sponsor from Senate opponents regarding the bill’s preemption of local community plans regarding the placement of natural gas facilities (could be permitted in any commercial or industrial zoning including near shopping centers or other population centric businesses), the removal of clean infrastructure goals in the State’s energy policy, and repealing the Florida Energy and Climate Protection Act (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Technologies Grants Program), Florida Green Government Grants Act, Energy Economic Zone Pilot Program, and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds provisions. 

Many of the questions about these provisions in the bill went unanswered with promises to get additional information to the Senators. Despite serious concerns, the bill was voted on favorably by the majority with the justification that we must balance cost for the ratepayers. 
 
Sen. Tina Polsky ended her comments on the bill by saying that in a state surrounded on three sides by water that is ground zero for climate impacts, this bill is “anti-technology, anti-innovation, pro fossil fuel, pro foreign fuel and pro preemption.”
 
The House version, HB 1645 by Rep. Bobby Payne has cleared all three of its committees and is to be voted on by the full House.
 
Please keep an eye out for an early week action alert on this bill for concerns to be shared with the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee before their vote on Tuesday.
Sampling of Beach Waters and Public Bathing Spaces (a.k.a. Safe Water Ways Act) HB 165  by Rep. Lindsay Cross and Rep. Peggy Gossett-Siedman passed unanimously out of its third and last committee this week with the enthusiastic endorsement of the House Health and Human Services Committee Chair Rep. Randy Fine, who has been a strong proponent of wastewater infrastructure improvements.
 
This bill is designed to dramatically improve public notification of imminent danger as it relates to swimming at beaches and "public bathing places" — the legal term used for designated public swimming areas. It requires timely and visible notice of bacteriological water quality impairments from sources such as malfunctioning sewage treatment plants, septic tank leaks, and animal waste. 
 
This bill also requires the Department of Health to specify a timeframe to notify the local municipality or county, the local office of the Department of Environmental Protection, and the local affiliates of national television networks of affected areas.
 
This bill heads to the House floor next. The Senate version, SB 338 by Sen. Lori Berman, has only cleared its first committee and unfortunately, at this late date, seems to be stalled. A similar version of this bill was first introduced and supported by local clean water advocates three years ago and has been re-introduced by Sen. Berman ever since. We appreciate her continued efforts and for the growing support in the House on behalf of this important bill. 
Thank you for your continued interest and participation in the legislative process!
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