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EDITORIALS

Editorial: A welcome change on water quality

Bipartisan bills strengthen environmental regulations

Staff Writer
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Water choked with algae in Florida's Indian River Lagoon in 2018, just two years after massive blooms led to the worst fish kills on record. [GATEHOUSE MEDIA FILE]

Whether it’s the severe impact red tide has had on tourism, or a sudden realization that environmental issues are crucial for Florida, a fresh breeze seems to be blowing through Tallahassee.

As Zac Anderson, the Herald-Tribune’s political editor, reported this week, environmental bills that would increase water-quality regulations are gaining momentum in the Legislature.

One bill would impose fines on municipalities for sewage spills. Another would improve regulations on the spreading of biosolids, the human waste left over from municipal sewage treatment. Nutrients in sewage can fuel toxic red tide and other algal blooms.

What’s interesting is that the bills are sponsored by Republicans and backed by Democrats and environmental groups.

What a difference a year makes.

Prior to last November’s election, then-Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature had long been focused on cutting funding for environmental programs while minimizing regulations and government oversight of potential polluters.

The devastating impact of lingering blooms of red tide, blue-green algae and brown algae — causing massive fish kills and a choking stench along both coasts — seems to have gotten everyone’s attention.

That, and a shrinking bottom line.

While Florida's economically critical tourism was up overall in 2018, the fourth-quarter was another story.

From October through December, Sarasota County, for example, suffered its steepest year-over-year decline in hotel occupancy for that period since the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 crushed the travel industry.

The number of visitors to the county was down by almost 9 percent compared with the same time in 2017, according to local tourism officials. The money visitors spent for accommodations fell 7.5 percent, a $20 million drop-off.

Red tide was largely to blame for a decline in the percentage of surveyed visitors who said they would recommend Sarasota County as a destination. And 81 percent of local hoteliers surveyed in December expected business to continue to be down for the first quarter of this year.

Those are scary numbers for our county’s and state’s tourism-dependent economy. And they’re at least partly the reason the new Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has made water quality a top priority.

Given the governor’s support and the local impact, it’s no surprise that state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, is sponsoring the bill that would fine municipalities $1 for every gallon of sewage spilled into local waterways.

That could generate a lot of revenue. In 2017, Hurricane Irma overwhelmed sewage systems across Florida and led to discharges in 39 counties, including Sarasota and Manatee. About 30 million gallons of sewage were dumped into the Indian River Lagoon alone, according to Florida Today.

The revenue resulting from those fines, as Sierra Club lobbyist David Cullen has proposed, should be devoted to helping local governments improve their sewage-treatment infrastructure.

The bill regulating biosolids — also known as sewage sludge — would tighten the permitting process that governs their use as fertilizer on farms and their disposal by burning or dumping in landfills.

The water-quality legislation so far targets municipalities in this nutrient-pollution crackdown, rather than corporate suspects such as Big Agriculture and the phosphate industry. But it’s a start, and a welcome change.