Editorial: Algae's link to septic tanks languishes while legislators look at election bills

Understanding that we’re only a little past the halfway point of the session and that things can change swiftly in the waning days, we’re struck by a dichotomy in the Florida Legislature.

Bills pertaining to voting and elections are moving through the committee process toward ultimate votes.

Meanwhile, bills relating to septic tanks appear to be languishing in one or both houses.

Heading into the 60-day session, water quality was at the top of everyone’s priority list.

The red tide and blue-green algae events of last summer, while catastrophic for residents who live near and businesses that rely on the water, provided an opportunity for action.

It was a rare instance when everyone agreed on the need to do something. And part of that surely would involve septic tanks, which number in the millions around the state and which, if not properly functioning, contribute to the nutrient pollution that spurs the harmful blooms.

On the other hand, who, heading into the session, was demanding stricter rules for petition gatherers working to get proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot?

Was there an outcry to change the deadlines for requesting and receiving vote-by-mail ballots?

We’re not passing judgment on the various election-related bills.

The argument that requiring convicted felons to pay fines and restitution before having their voting rights restored amounts to a poll tax seems a stretch. Why shouldn’t court-ordered payments be viewed in the same light as court-ordered jail time when it comes to paying one’s debt to society?

And maybe changing the vote-by-mail deadlines will prevent a repeat of 2018, when the status of late-arriving ballots threw close contests into chaos.

Bills requiring 66 percent voter approval of amendments and requiring petition gatherers to be Florida residents certainly make the amendment process more difficult. Proponents of the changes have the burden of showing it’s presently too easy.

But what’s striking is the attention the political process commands in Tallahassee.

While committees have been hearing and approving these bills, the critical subject of water quality, at least as it relates to septic tanks, goes begging.

House Bill 85 would require regular inspection and pumping out of septic tanks. It has been heard and approved by the Natural Resources Subcommittee, but a companion bill in the Senate, SB 214, has not been scheduled for any committee hearings.

Senate Bill 1758 would transfer some septic tank oversight from the Department of Health to the Department of Environmental Protection, recognizing septic tank maintenance as a water quality issue.

Its House companion was introduced in early March and has gone nowhere since.

Where is the urgency?

Septic tanks aren’t the only contributor to water quality degradation, and no easy  solution is apparent.

It isn’t realistic to expect lawmakers to legislate them out of existence, and a meaningful enforcement regimen will take years to implement.

Maybe the best we can expect this session is a recognition that there is a problem and a mandate, as suggested by Senate Majority Leader Kathleen Passidomo of Naples last year, to conduct a comprehensive study on the number and condition of tanks around the state.

That would at least be something to build on going forward.

But a slow progress toward anything like that leaves us wondering if legislators are capable of acting on the consensus to move quickly to address water quality.

The frantic final days of the session are ahead, and all we can do is encourage them not to let this opportunity pass.

Brent Batten wrote this for the Naples Daily News editorial board.