Audubon sent a letter to Governor Rick Scott today, urging him to veto four bills from the 2011 Florida legislative session. You can read our letter by clicking here.
Let your voice be heard - send a letter to Governor Rick Scott asking him to veto these bad environmental bills.
Write to:
Office of Governor Rick Scott
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
The bills:
SB 2142 limits ad valorem tax collections by the state’s five water management districts and has the effect of rolling back the districts’ budgets by as much as 30%. The limit on the South Florida Water Management District is likely to reduce the effort towards cleaning up polluted water in the Everglades and the Lake Okeechobee watershed and will undermine the long-term efforts to carryout projects that restore fresh water flows through the Everglades.
CS/CS/CS/HB 993 requires cumbersome review of state rules. Many of the rules subject to the bill are those used to protect Florida’s environmental resources. Regulated interests will push hard to limit new and existing rules and the public will be largely left out of the process. The bill also has a separate subject changing the burden of proof for citizens and other affected parties challenging agency permits and other decisions. Taken together, the two subjects of this bill disenfranchise the public from acting to protect Florida’s environment.
CS/CS/HB 421 was introduced on behalf of two major landowners who were caught destroying wetlands and altering surface water flows. The bill retroactively allows water to be impeded or diverted for agricultural activities regardless of harm to natural resources or downstream landowners. It also allows developers to escape mitigation when converting agricultural land to development.
HB 7207 was amended to pick up a controversial rewrite of growth management legislation. The bill makes it easier for developers to amend local land use plans, eliminates the important 9J-5 rule, diminishes need as a condition of new growth, and removes the ability of communities to hold referenda on comprehensive planning issues.
