By JIM TURNER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, …… Without a surge of once-envisioned money, members of the Florida Senate hope they can tee up new policies to help protect the state’s natural springs before the legislative session ends Friday.
The push comes after funding for the springs, located throughout central and northern Florida, came out of legislative budget talks far below the amounts earmarked for the Indian River Lagoon and the Everglades.
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved
a measure (SB 1576) that, in part, seeks to control the amounts of fertilizers allowed into waterways, redirect waste water, replace septic systems at no charge to homeowners and have the Department of Environmental Protection rank the needs of the various critical springs projects.
“I think it’s imperative that we try to do the right thing, to do all that we can reasonably do, to make these springs healthy and to help other people enjoy them as they come to Florida and as they live here,” said Sen. Alan Hays, a Umatilla Republican who is one of five senators pushing the proposal.
But without a companion bill in the House, the proposal still needs the support of two-thirds of House members just to get brought up on the floor during the next two days.
Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said Wednesday he’ll huddle with House leaders, including Rep. Steve Crisafulli, a Merritt Island Republican who is slated to become speaker in November, and “see if they think it’s a good bill.”
Weatherford has expressed skepticism about the Senate proposal, which has undergone several recent changes.
The most notable alteration came last week when a proposal was stripped from the plan to use existing revenue, estimated at up to $378 million a year, from a tax on real estate transactions to fund the springs improvements.
Prior to the session, Weatherford suggested that water-policy issues may have to wait until the 2015 session.
However, Sen. David Simmons, an Altamonte Springs Republican who is also part of the group of five senators, remained optimistic that the policy proposal will get House support by the end of the week.
Also, Simmons said people shouldn’t look down on the more than $30 million allocated in the budget for springs next year. The House and Senate are slated to vote on the fiscal 2014-15 budget Friday.
“We have received a significant sum of money compared to prior years,” Simmons said. “It’s not what we wanted, but it is significant.”
The amount is $20 million less than Gov. Rick Scott requested.
Janet Bowman of The Nature Conservancy, called Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron’s handling of the Indian River Lagoon funding “brilliant,” adding that she expects disappointment from springs proponents.
“There have been expectations raised,” Bowman said in reference to the springs funding sought by the five senators.
The springs money is far less than that $171.9 million being allocated for the Everglades and Indian River Lagoon.
Negron, R-Stuart, lined up the money by chairing a select committee that was initially focused on improving water quality in the St. Lucie River estuary, which last summer was inundated with nutrient-heavy waters released from nearby Lake Okeechobee.
Among the South Florida water projects in the budget are $32 million for water restoration projects in the Everglades; $20 million for muck removal from the Indian River Lagoon; and $1 million for seagrass and oyster restoration efforts in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
The funding for South Florida waterways grows to $231.9 million with the addition of $60 million during the next two years in transportation funding to bridge a portion of the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County. Lifting the road is expected to help shift the flow of water in the Everglades to the south.