Author name: bruce

By The Florida TribuneAs legislators seek to extend the implementation of new septic tank standards during the upcoming special session, outgoing Sen. Lee Constantine sent a letter to lawmakers requesting they back the standards and its timeline, just as they did during the past legislative session. Under SB 550, the new standards would require that […]

It didn’t get a lot of attention, but Secretary of Community Affairs Tom Pelham gave an impassioned defense of his agency this past week. DCA has constantly come under fire in the last few years, especially as Pelham has criticized legislative efforts to change the state’s growth management laws. Pelham, however, fired back at critics

Florida’s two incoming legislative leaders announced on Thursday that they plan to take up several significant environmental issues during a one-day special session planned for later this month. The list for the Nov. 16 special session covers everything from septic tanks and energy rebates. Both incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and House Speaker

John H. Hankinson Jr., a Florida native and former regional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, was named Monday as executive director of the new federal Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. President Barack Obama signed an executive order earlier this month establishing the task force, which will coordinate restoration programs and projects following the BP

MISSOULA, Mont. — NOAA Administrator Jane Lubcheco on Friday defended as “consistent” her description of the fate of oil spilled last summer in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, an oil industry representative told environmental journalists that the nation must continue deep-water oil drilling as an important economic driver in the Gulf region. The Deepwater Horizon

The South Florida Water Management District on Tuesday closed on the purchase of nearly 27,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land in a scaled-down version of the once-massive Everglades restoration project. Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008 first proposed the purchase of 187,000 acres, which the district agreed to buy for $1.3 billion. But the economic

Nancy Argenziano announced Tuesday she is resigning from the Florida Public Service Commission to support Democrat Alex Sink in her race against Republican Rick Scott for governor. Argenziano — who was elected as a Republican state senator — told reporters she is resigning to speak out against what she considers to be a “catastrophe” facing

State wildlife officials on Monday postponed workshops on black bear management because they said too many people wanted to talk about hunting bears. But it was a state wildlife official who publicly suggested that hunting should remain an option in the future. The state banned bear hunting in 1994 because of an outcry from animal

1000 Friends of Florida, a group focusing on growth management issues statewide, sent a questionnaire last month to the eight major party candidates in the state Cabinet races. The number of responses: Zero, said Charles Pattison, the group’s president. That may be telling about the importance that growth and environmental issues are playing in this

Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson on Friday predicted a tough wildfire season because of a long-range weather forecast calling for dry conditions. Wildfire season typically peaks in January and extends until June, though fires can break out any time because of dry conditions. The dire forecast should cause state and federal parks and other land-management