2010 archive

There was significant movement Monday on several environmental bills. SB 550, a comprehensive water bill that includes a requirement for septic tank inspections, passed the Senate 30-3. HB 7143 relating to recycling passed the House 115-1 after a requirement that airports recycle was removed from the bill. The Senate companion, SB 570, was amended and […]

Rep. Alan Hays, left, talks with Rep. David Rivera and Sen. JD Alexander, the House and Senate budget chiefs. House and Senate budget negotiators on Sunday remained in disagreement on language that prohibits state agencies from requiring advanced septic tanks for another year. Springs across the state have become choked with weeds and algae as

U. S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Friday asked the Department of Interior to investigate an oil drilling rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana. The Obama administration on March 31 said it would allow exploration and drilling off the east coast south to about Titusville and in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Florida

House budget negotiators agreed Friday to provide $15 million in fiscal year 2010-11 for Florida Forever, the nation’s largest land-buying program. The program has received $300 million a year since 1990 but received nothing from the Legislature last year after the House declined to provide funding amid declining state revenues. During conference committee meetings earlier

A proposal to require again that water management district permits be voted on at public meetings has been revised. Last year, SB 2080 was amended late in the legislative session to direct the districts to approve some permits without a public hearing. The Florida Home Builders Association said it supported the amended bill to help

A far-reaching Senate water bill will be amended to address concerns raised by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the bill’s sponsor said Thursday. SB 550 by Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, resulted from hearings held around the state as a Senate panel heard about threats of pollution and over-pumping to Florida’s springs, rivers and

A bill reauthorizing the Florida Department of Community Affairs received unanimous Senate approval Thursday, but the bill could face a challenge in the House. The Legislature in 2006 established a “sunset review” process for state agencies to determine whether a need for them exists. DCA supporters have raised concerns that the department won’t be reauthorized

A House proposal to restructure the Florida Public Service Commission appears dead this legislative session. HB 7209 by the House Energy & Utilities Policy Committee was amended Thursday to remove language that would have moved the PSC regulatory staff to the governor and Cabinet. The move was proposed amid what a House bill analysis says

Gov. Charlie Crist celebrated Earth Day on Thursday by saying that residents have a duty to work together while Florida Forever supporters said they want more money for the land-buying program than is being discussed in the Legislature. Several businesses and partnerships announced initiatives to mark the Earth Day celebration at the Capitol as hundreds

House and Senate budget conferees have agreed to provide $2 million to the Florida Department of Health for an ongoing study of septic tank technologies. Meanwhile, bill language looms that would prevent agencies from reducing nitrogen pollution from septic tanks while the study continues. The study has been an issue for the past two years