A report in the Miami Herald this week highlighted a potentially devastating proposal in the state budget that could affect the ability of communities in Florida to protect water quality.
The east coast newspaper reported that Florida legislators are poised to block one of the most effective tools local governments say they have to protect water quality in their communities in the face of red tide and blue-green algae outbreaks by banning rainy season restrictions on fertilizer use.
A story by Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau reporter Mary Ellen Klas pointed to a measure quietly tucked into a budget proposal over the weekend that would prohibit at least 117 local governments from “adopting or amending a fertilizer management ordinance” during the 2023-24 budget year, requiring them to rely on less restrictive regulations developed by the University of Florida, which are supported by the state’s phosphate industry, the producers of fertilizer.
Legislative leaders tentatively agreed to a $116 billion budget on Monday, the Herald story reported, and, with no public debate or discussion, included the fertilizer language that emerged late Sunday.
The Herald's story further revealed lawmakers took no testimony from local government officials or environmental advocates who are now warning that the measure could dramatically impede efforts to curb toxic algae outbreaks that feed on nitrogen and phosphorus rich runoff.
“Supporting this change would allow more fertilizer runoff into Florida’s waters, period,’’ said Eve Samples of Friends of the Everglades. “That doesn’t benefit anyone except big fertilizer companies.”
“Fertilizer control is a key tool for local governments grappling with water quality problems,’’ said Gil Smart, executive director of VoteWater, an advocacy group. “If this stands, it just opens the door to even more nutrients in our waterways and more problems. It’s unconscionable.”
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article274928746.html#storylink=cpy
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