As we approach mid-session, this week will likely be the last week for subcommittee meetings — virtually closing the door after that on bills that have not yet been heard or are not moving in committee.

Water quality

SB 1258 — Use of Phosphogypsum passed 9-0 through the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee last week. The bill authorizes demonstration projects and studies around the use of incorporating this by-product of phosphate mining into road bed construction. According to the EPA, phosphogypsum can emit the radioactive gas, radon, and also contains other radio-active elements such as uranium, thorium and radium.

The argument for using this by-product of the fertilizer industry is that it would provide a much needed aggregate for road bed materials and would be contained under asphalt in the road construction process. While there were no legislators that opposed the bill outright, there were some that would like to see the study process completed before demonstration projects commenced. Of particular concern is any potential leachate that may occur once the layer of confining asphalt cracks or erodes from weatherization and wear.

The identical House version, HB 1191, passed 14-0 in the House Infrastructure and Tourism Appropriation Subcommittee with similar comments. Both bills have one more committee stop before the bill reaches their respective House and Senate floors for a full vote.

Growth management/land use

SB 540 — Local Government Comprehensive Plans also passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 8-3. This is the very bad bill that adds the provision for prevailing party’s attorney’s fees to citizen’s challenges of local government comprehensive plans. In addition to the previous reasons for opposing the bill, such as ignoring already existing protections for avoiding frivolous lawsuits and freezing citizen involvement in their local growth management process, bill sponsor Sen. Nick DiCeglie added a bad amendment to eliminate some elements of comprehensive plan review and to expedite the already limited state review process. Testimony from 1000 Friends of Florida gave an example of the havoc the amendment would impose in South Florida and on specific areas of Everglades restoration in particular. The amendment and the bill still passed with promises to look at future improvements to the amendment.

The similar House version, HB 359, is headed for the House floor after passing all of its committee stops. Any amendments will have to be reconciled between the houses, but the bill will surely be a veto target if it passes.

Visit the 2023 SCCF Legislative Tracker HEREhttps://www.sccf.org/our-work/environmental-policy.

Founded in 1967, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.