“Florida SB 2508: Environmental Resources” Concerns Floridians’ Future
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
The blue-green algae bloom is visible in this image of Lake Okeechobee, acquired on July 2, 2016, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite. The natural-color image combines red light, green light, and coastal aerosol (blue) light (bands 4, 3 and 1). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cropped_lake_okeechobee_oli_2016184_lrg.jpg (Attirbution: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Kathryn Hansen, Public Domain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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All Floridians who care about the water of Florida, quality and health of life of Florida, be sure to read this post and view all videos below carefully and completely.
Last Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, the Florida Senate silently issued Senate Bill 2508 (SB 2508) as a “conforming bill,” allowing them to bypass the standard legislation process (short-cutting the public comment process) in order to quickly get it into law. I was informed that examination of the bill reveals major policy changes that threaten Everglades restoration and clean energy progress. Many concerned Florida citizens, including fishing captains and business owners, traveled from around the state to testify at the Senate Committee in opposition to the bill, in the video published on Feb 16, 2022, ““Kill The Bill” Vol. 1“, below (All Floridians Need To View The Video Below):
Bad Water Bill Threatens Years Of Clean Water Progress The annual Florida Legislative Session is a 60-day window (Jan 11-March 11) where the Legislature is convened for the purpose of lawmaking. On February 4th, the Florida Senate filed Senate Bill 2508, a suspicious piece of legislation that poses a major threat to Everglades restoration and clean water progress. Most of the bill’s contents appear to be bad news for South Floridians, but our major concern is that it deprioritizes the EAA Reservoir and reduces measurable gains made in the public and transparent LOSOM process. Watch the video for the full story and if interested, please sign the petition to oppose SB 2508: https://captainsforcleanwater.org/urg…
In the video above, one finds, “Florida SB2508 is a political ploy to secure the interests of one powerful industry at the expense of all others. SB2508 will result in more harmful discharges, more toxic algae, and less fresh water to the Everglades where its desperately needed.”
Florida Water Management Districts was not consulted on this bill before the vote.
16 senators voted yes on SB2508 and only 4 voted no. The following day, the South Florida Water Management District met for the first time to discuss SB 2508.
Over 36,000 concerned citizens have signed the petition against SB 2508. If you’re interested in signing the petition against SB 2508, please click HERE.
To see Florida SB 2508, please click HERE.or see in italics, below:
SB 2508: Environmental Resources
GENERAL BILL by Appropriations
Environmental Resources; Providing that certain land acquisitions are not required to meet specified valuation procedures; providing requirements for budget amendments requesting the release of state funds for specified water project components; requiring the South Florida Water Management District to make a specified certification to the Legislature regarding its recommendations to the United States Army Corps of Engineers for new or modified Lake Okeechobee provisions, etc.
To read the text of Florida SB 2508, please click HERE.
To track Florida SB 2508, please click HERE.
The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency that manages the water resources in the southern half of the state, covering 16 counties from Orlando to the Florida Keys and serving a population of 9 million residents. Senate Bill 2508 is a bill snuck in, in the video published on Feb 11, 2022, “Water management district FIGHTS BACK against the corrupt Senate Bill 2508“, below:
According to Scott Wagner, Board Member, in the video above, some of the effects of SB 2508 are listed below:
- It will require more water to be retained in the lake during dry season than equitably desired, leading to starve Everglades of the much needed water during dry season and create a higher lake stage during the wet season, therefore water in the lake will be higher and we will be predisposed to more algal blooms and toxic algal discharges down the estuary.
- It diminishes the credibility of recommendations to U.S. Army Corps of Engineering
Florida Senate Bill 2508 would be a death knell to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee – guaranteeing toxic discharges for decades to come. In the video published on Feb 10, 2022, “Rep. Mast Speaks Out Against Florida Senate Bill 2508“, below:
Friends of the Everglades Policy Director Gil Smart delivered public comment opposing SB 2508 at the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on February 9, 2022, in the video published on Feb 9, 2022, “SB 2508 Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing Public Comment – Gil Smart“, below:
Mr. Gil Smart, Director of Policy of Friends of the Everglades, pointed out how SB 2508 would negatively impact the health, clean water, and economy of Florida, in the video above. Specifically, SB 2508 touched on 3 main areas of concern:
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- Language in this bill forces the South Florida Water Management District to maintain existing, overly generous water-supply promises in the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). This would lead to more toxic algae blooms on Florida’s east and west coasts.
- It would delegate some wetland “dredge and fill” permit reviews to utility companies, meaning major companies like FPL and Duke Energy could potentially evaluate their own permit applications. This would not be necessary if DEP was properly staffed and resourced to take over the 404 wetland-permitting program in the first place.
- Language in this bill would bump up certain projects in the Everglades restoration funding line, including the scientifically questionable Aquifer Storage and Recovery wells that are central to the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Project.
The Press Release on February 10, 2022, Statement By Senate President Wilton Simpson On SB 2508, Environmental Resources, in italics, below:
Tallahassee —
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) today released the following statement regarding Senate Bill 2508, which safeguards state taxpayer funds dedicated to clean water resources and protects state water rights from federal government intrusion.
“Floridians have invested billions of their hard earned dollars in environmental restoration and this Senate is going to safeguard that investment. I am never going to cede one inch of state authority over our water resources to Joe Biden’s federal government – the same administration that did not include one dollar of federal funding for the reservoir in their so-called infrastructure bill.
“Our Senate bill does not in any way reverse or hinder Everglades restoration and is entirely consistent with current policy. In fact, the bill protects existing state funding for the EAA Reservoir and cements into state law current successful water management practices that Joe Biden’s federal government is looking to change. The bill makes it clear that the South Florida Water Management District needs to advocate for our state water interests, under current law – not whatever the Biden Administration wants to do.
“SB 2508 does not change the goals of the EAA Reservoir, or go back on any commitment this state has made to the environment during my 10 years of service. The successful environmental projects Governor DeSantis has championed were actually started long ago with funding and policy approved by the Florida Legislature. I agree with Governor DeSantis’ commitment to our environment, and I too have long-championed these issues. I sponsored the 2013 Everglades Improvement and Management Act, which created a single comprehensive plan for achieving the restoration efforts envisioned under the Everglades Forever Act. As Senate Majority Leader in 2017, I helped draft and worked to pass the EAA Reservoir legislation, which expedited and provided dedicated funding for southern storage, while prioritizing other critical water projects around Lake Okeechobee. For special interests to suggest that under my leadership the Senate would go back on those commitments is not only ludicrous, it is deliberately dishonest political gamesmanship.
“Furthermore, no Senator has to check in with a state agency before filing a bill. I report to the people of Citrus, Hernando and Pasco Counties, not appointed bureaucrats.”
Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples breaks down the reasons that it’s a cause for concern on many environmental fronts, in the video published on Feb 8, 2022, “Bad Bill Alert: SB 2508 poses multiple environmental threats“, below:
Gil Smart explains how legislators have responded to complaints about this bad bill in “coded” language – and here’s how to understand their protestations, in the video published on Feb 16, 2022, “SB 2508 Speaking the Language“, below:
It is disturbing that SB 2508 is a conforming bill. What would prevent other similar bills from happening again? All Floridians should be concerned about SB2508 for it will negatively impact the health, economy, and prosperity of the future of Florida. There needs to be greater transparency on local as well as state government level.
Check out Friends of the Everglades, please click HERE.
If you’re interested in signing the petition against SB 2508, please click HERE.
To see Florida SB 2508, please click HERE.
To read the text of Florida SB 2508, please click HERE.
To track Florida SB 2508, please click HERE.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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