February 13, 2018
Provided by David Cullen, Sierra Club

Two good bills and one bad one will be heard in the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Environment and Natural Resources this Wednesday (Valentine’s Day!) at 1:30  Tomorrow (Tuesday) Please call or email committee members and urge them to

VOTE YES on SB 462 to Ban all types of Fracking in Florida

Advanced Well Stimulation Treatment

by Sen. Young

VOTE YES on SB 1664 to require septic tank remediation to

protect and restore our water bodies

Basin Management Action Plans

by Sen. Simmons

and

VOTE NO on SB 1402 which will authorize Florida to take

responsibility for protecting our wetlands away from the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

SB 1402 State Assumption of Federal Section 404 Dredge and Fill Permitting Authority

also by Sen. Simmons

SB 462 Advanced Well Stimulation Treatment by Sen. Dana Young which will ban all types of fracking: hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, and acid-matrix stimulation in Florida .

BANNING FRACKING WILL PREVENT:

• Wreaking havoc with Florida’s water through excessive and wasteful consumptive use
• Chemical pollution of surface waters and the aquifer
• Human health impacts from toxic chemicals
• Increasing Florida’s dependence on natural gas

SB 1664 Basin Management Action Plans by Sen. Simmons will require the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Health, local governments, and wastewater utilities to develop a septic tank remediation plan as part of a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) when DEP identifies septic systems as a significant source of pollution. This is an important step to address our polluted water bodies.

SB 1402 State Assumption of Federal Section 404 Dredge and Fill Permitting Authority by Sen. Simmons would authorize Florida’s DEP to take charge of wetland protection from the EPA.  The Department claims it will look at every issue the feds look at, but how hard they’ll look, and for how long is a mystery. The details of implementation will only be worked out long after the bill becomes law.

Florida advocated against EPA’s Clean Water Rule, and now the State wants to take responsibility for the very resource it argued shouldn’t be under EPA’s jurisdiction - geographically isolated wetlands.

In addition, DEP’s staff has been cut by 25% and the federal government will not provide any funding for Florida taking over the job.

Please contact the committee members below and urge them to vote

YES – to Ban Fracking!

YES – to clean up Septic Tanks!

NO – to removing wetlands from federal protection!