Join us in asking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to VETO Senate Bill 2508, which despite various amendments still contains concerning elements harmful to Lake Okeechobee management and several state-wide water quality issues.
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Background of the Bill:
While the Legislature did amend the bill to remove some of the most concerning language, the bill that is headed for the Governor’s desk for consideration still undermines important components of Everglades Restoration and the development of the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM).
For example, this bill will still have a chilling effect on state water managers by perpetuating the harmful “hold and dump” practices of the existing Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS 08) – reducing beneficial flows to the Caloosahatchee and Everglades during the dry season and increasing damaging high-volume discharges to our coastal communities during the wet season.
The harmful elements of the bill that remain include:
- Language that unnecessarily requires legislative ratification of new water rules designed to address water allocation during the dry season, both complicating and delaying rulemaking and moving decision making away from those who live and work in the areas (and ecosystems) most harmed by the water shortages.
- Allows public entities, including utilities, to pay to expedite their wetland permits, expanding and accelerating the destruction of wetlands and exacerbating impacts to water quality.
- Changes the current Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Rural and Family Lands program from approving conservation easements which keep special agricultural lands in production and on the tax rolls – to also allow FDACS to out-right purchase these lands duplicating and potentially competing with the underfunded FDEP Florida Forever land acquisition program.
This bill was put forward outside of the normal and appropriate legislative committee process, thus severely limiting public input into the important issues contained in this bill. This bill will have widespread negative impacts on Floridians, the state’s tourism-based economy, and undermines the transparency that the Governor’s current administration has advocated for in the past.
Demand a Veto for SB 2508
Thank you to our Partner Organizations
