The 5th week of the Legislative session started with a bang as the Fertilizer bill, SB 604, sponsored by Senator Charlie Dean (R-Inverness), died on a 3-4 vote in the Senate Environmental Preservation & Conservation Committee on Monday. The bill was universally opposed by the environmental community (including Audubon) as well as many cities and counties who faced pre-emption of their local ordinances regulating the application of fertilizer by professional landscapers.

Many of these municipalities made the trek to Tallahassee for this meeting and urged legislators to allow them to continue protecting their waterways from nutrient loading when fertilizer is incorrectly applied during the rainy season. The message was heard loud and clear and Senators Dennis Jones (R-Seminole), Steve Oelrich (R-Gainesville), Eleanor Sobel (D-Hollywood) and Nan Rich (D-Sunrise) deserve high praise for voting against the bill!