POLITICS

Florida's legislators expected to focus heavily on water this session

Ali Schmitz
Treasure Coast Newspapers

Florida water advocates have hoped for several years that lawmakers will address water quality issues plaguing the state. For years, environmentalists deemed each annual legislative session to be "the year of water."

Lawmakers promised to clean Florida’s polluted waters by securing funding, finishing restoration projects and addressing pollution sources. Yet — aside from the EAA reservoir in 2017 — each session has ended with few major changes.

2018 saw one of the worst environmental catastrophes ever — dueling toxic red tide and toxic blue-green algae on both coasts and in Indian River County's Blue Cypress Lake.

Now environmentalists across the state wonder if this will be the year that the Legislature heavily focuses on improving the state's water quality.

Legislators in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle are proposing wide-ranging bills that focus on funding water quality and treatment projects, but few bills have been filed that address pollution or nutrient runoff.

Legislators will also have to compete for funding for water quality projects in their districts, as more municipalities and counties are seeking the state's help in responding to algal blooms.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (center) tours THursday, Jan. 10, 2019, with Julie Wraithmell (from left), of Audubon Florida, first lady Casey DeSantis, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, Daniel Andrews, of Captains for Clean Water, and Eric Eikenberg, of  Everglades Foundation. DeSantis took a brief boat ride with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at the Florida Gulf Coast University Vester Marine and Environmental Science Research Field Station in Bonita Springs during his visit.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted environmental funding on a statewide level, but Treasure Coast clean-water advocates are particularly worried that no environmental leaders have emerged in the Legislature in the wake of Sen. Joe Negron’s retirement.  

Sen. Gayle Harrell said she can be that person, and she campaigned heavily on her environmental record during her 2018 bid to win Negron's seat. Her office did not reply to an interview request for this story.

Sen. Debbie Mayfield, who represents Indian River County, chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government, which funds water projects statewide. Her office also did not reply to an interview request.

Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg said he expects there to be more coalitions around environmental projects than leading members, but did point to Senate Appropriations Chair Rob Bradley as a leader on environmental issues.

Eikenberg said he's very optimistic about this year's session because more people are on the same page when it comes to environmental priorities, especially with an emphasis on environmental issues from the governor's office. 

"The fact is, we have a chief executive officer of the state of Florida who has clearly outlined that the environment is attached to the economy and to the economic future of the state," Eikenberg said. "The general is in place and now the cavalry is going to follow. You better believe the optimism is high because he's leading in what he said he'll do."

Statewide initiatives

DeSantis and the Department of Environmental Protection are seeking increased funding for environmental protection including:

  • $360 million: Everglades restoration projects, including funding for Lake Okeechobee, the EAA reservoir south of the lake, and the C-43 and C-44 reservoirs. All aim to reduce discharges from the lake.
  • $100 million: Water projects across the state that reduce nutrient pollution, including septic-to-sewer conversions and stormwater treatment improvements.
  • $50 million: Springs restoration projects.
  • $50 million: Projects to reduce total maximum daily loads. The governor’s office said that could include “green infrastructure investments” or land conservation projects.
  • $25 million: Projects to combat algal blooms and improve quality. $10 million of the funding would go toward short-term treatment projects and technologies, while another $10.8 million would go toward water quality monitors, creating an information portal for people to report blooms and funding for a blue-green algae task force established by the governor’s office. More than $4 million would go to red tide research, including creating a center under the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to research the blooms.

Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said the Senate also supports an increase in funding, but said legislators will determine funding levels during session.

Galvano, whose district suffered from red tide last year, said the Legislature will focus heavily on finding science-based solutions to algal blooms. One of his local priorities this year is to establish an initiative to research and develop technologies that combat red tide, and would like to see it based out of Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory.

Several projects to reduce blue-green algal blooms are only coming online, Galvano said. He said legislators need to review all projects, and see what’s working.

“Sometimes in this legislative process, we just keep adding and adding when we haven’t found what we’re supposed to be doing in the first place,” Galvano said.

Galvano succeeds Negron, whose Treasure Coast district regularly has recurring blue-green algal blooms. Both have supported increased environmental funding and worked with environmentalists in their districts to fund water quality projects. 

Galvano said he expects legislators from throughout the state to step up and support water projects, and hopes his experiences with the blooms can help legislators understand their impact. He said people from other areas or from outside the state might not understand the "practicalities" of dealing with red tide.

"It's just another way I may be able to communicate our experiences here on the West Coast of Florida," Galvano said. 

Water bills

Legislators statewide are supporting several bills aimed at improving the state's water quality. 

Harrell wants the state to spend $50 million annually on projects to restore the Indian River Lagoon. The bill would create grants for projects such as connecting septic tanks to sewer systems and projects that manage groundwater, freshwater and agricultural discharges. 

State Sen. Gayle Harrell praises Gov. Ron DeSantis at a press conference in Stuart in January.

Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, wants the state to inspect septic tanks at least once every five years and to map out all the tanks in the state. SB 214 would also require the Department of Health to develop minimum standards and requirements for repairing or pumping out any failing septic systems. 

Gruters also filed a bill that would impose a $1 per-gallon fine for wastewater treatment facilities that spill raw or partially treated sewage into any waterway or aquifer.

HB 157 would require every Florida county and municipal government to adopt the state's fertilizer law, which requires residents to use only fertilizers containing 50-percent slow-release nitrogen on their lawns. Nutrients in fertilizer feed toxic blue-green algae blooms caused by Lake Okeechobee discharges. 

SB 1022 would transfer oversight of septic system programs from the Department of Health to the Department of Environmental Protection. 

Local Plans

Rep. Toby Overdorf, a freshman Republican from Palm City, is shepherding several bills for local water projects in the House, including septic to sewer projects in Martin County and dredging of Taylor Creek in St. Lucie County.

More: Treasure Coast officials hope Legislature will help fund water projects

Overdorf, who said he's the only member of the House with a background in ecology, said other members have reached out to him about environmental issues. 

"It's been a very great experience to work with the other legislators because they are very strong in Florida's environment is healthy during our term," Overdorf said. 

Overdorf is also looking to speed up delays in Everglades restoration projects, filing a resolution calling for the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to transfer all dredge and fill permitting to the state DEP.

While state lawmakers approved a plan to do so last year, little progress has been made to transfer the permitting. Overdorf said under state control, the process would not be less stringent and still would have to follow all federal guidelines. 

"So many of these restoration projects are so far behind because of permitting," Overdorf said. "The state has traditionally been a little more accountable in their time frames and they typically have additional personnel to actually allow these projects to start moving ahead on a more realistic time frame." 

Due to the discovery of a highly toxic algae bloom found in Blue Cypress Lake that was tested and confirmed on Wednesday, visitors and lake residents are being warned not to let their pets drink lake water. Several environmentalists believe the spread of biosolids on nearby pastures helped feed the highly toxic algae.

Rep. Erin Grall filed a bill to ban biosolids in the upper St. Johns River watershed, which includes Blue Cypress Lake and Indian River County. Biosolids likely are to blame for increased phosphorus levels and algal blooms in the lake, a TCPalm investigation found. 

But some local environmentalists are worried that without a prominent voice for water issues in the Legislature, the Treasure Coast could suffer. 

More: Bill to ban biosolids in Indian River County filed by state Rep. Erin Grall

Bullsugar Policy Director Alex Gillen said while the organization is excited about the work DeSantis is doing, there are gaps in the Legislature.

"We’d sure like to think this is the year for water in Florida, but we’ve got a long way to go. Gov. DeSantis is off to a promising start and Rep. Mast is leading in the Congress, but we need more champions to emerge," Gillen said. 

He pointed to Harrell, a former state representative, as an example. Gillen said he rarely hears Harrell speaking up on issues his organization supports, including reducing agriculture's involvement in policy decisions and banning biosolids.

He said state legislators need to be more consistent on water issues. 

"One of the tricks that many elected officials use is being splashy on one aspect of the problem and silent on the hard parts. We need leaders that are consistently good on environmental issues and willing to engage in the tough fights with monied special interests."