Maureen Rupe, guest author
House Bill 1489 / Senate Bill 1686
“Designation of Brevard Barrier Island Area as Area of Critical State Concern.” Directs state and local governments to ensure that new development in the Brevard Barrier Island Area complies with the principles to prioritize the Indian River Lagoon restoration, protect sea turtle habitat and safeguard against adverse impacts posed by flooding and storm surge. According to the Senate Bill’s analysis, the bill will:
Establish a land use management system that protects the natural environment of the southern Brevard Barrier Island Area;
Establish a land use management system that promotes orderly and balanced growth in accordance with the capacity of existing public facilities and services;
Protect and improve the Indian River Lagoon ecosystem, including improving water quality of the Brevard Barrier Island Area through funding of water quality improvement projects; and
Ensure that the population of the Brevard Barrier Island can be safely evacuated.
Reference:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1686
Derelict Boats:
The following I want to thank Frank Rohrer of the Indian River Lagoon Roundtable and publisher of the Indian River Lagoon News.
Brevard County has started its largest derelict and abandoned boat removal effort ever. 2022 Hurricanes Ian and Nicole left almost 80 derelict boats abandoned in the Banana River and Indian River Lagoon. The removal program is expected to take four months to complete. These derelict and at-risk vessels are a concern because they can endanger marine life and habitat as they pollute the waters with oil and other pollutants. They can pose threats to public safety and cause property damage as they drift on or beneath the water surface. The Brevard County Tourist Development Council’s Tourist Tax and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are paying $7,000 per boat to remove them. To expedite the process, the state has given the sunken boat owners 45 days to remove them or the state will remove them. If you know of any derelict boats, call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission at 888-404-3922 or Matt Culver at 321-482-7970. Unfortunately, there is a shortfall of funds and all boats may not be removed. You can view the reported derelict boats at the FWC Derelict Vessel Atlas link: https://gis.myfwc.com/DerelictVessel/.
Reference:
Brevard County Removes Derelict Boats
https://myfwc.com/boating/waterway/derelict-vessels/
https://indianriverlagoonnews.org/guide/
Malabar Scrub Fight:
As I stated in March 2022 Happenings, the town of Malabar, along with its 400-member Mountain Bike Club has been complaining about removal of a number of Oak Trees within the Malabar Scrub Sanctuary. The Malabar Scrub Sanctuary was not bought to be used for recreation, but specifically purchased for a refuge for the Florida scrub-jay, gopher tortoise, and eastern indigo snake. The Florida scrub-jay and gopher tortoise are consider protected by state and federal law and requires specific protection. The protections are listed in the Federal Endangered Species Act, and the Scrub-Jay is a federally designated threatened species by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and is also protected by the Migratory Bird Act. The property can be used for recreation if it doesn’t impact the environmentally endangered purpose of the property. Unfortunately, many of the Oak Trees are providing a home for a number of hawks that is playing havoc on our endangered species. The Florida Scrub-Jay and Gopher Tortoise requires an open landscape of low scrub-oak vegetation and reasonably open adjacent pine flatwoods in order to maintain food resources and breeding success. The city of Malabar is trying to prevent removing the trees that are used for hikers and bikers. They think Brevard County is going to cut down all the trees is wrong. The county has already stated trees some trees along to borders can be kept for recreation trails, but the main portion of the property has to have tall oaks removed to the scrub species can thrive. Unfortunately, the Town and Bike Club won’t accept that offer. This fight has been going on for over a year and the Courts granted the Town of Malabar’s request per State Statutes 164.1041 to stop the proceedings and hold the pre-suit conflict resolution process first meeting on April 10, 2023. This meeting occurred with little accomplished as no one from the Brevard County Commission was invited. The next meeting is to occur on May 1 st . Updates will be given as information is available.
As I’ve said, the Scrub-Jay is an endangered species. In Port St John, there were once polygons of scrub-jays, but between development, the hawks and the feral cats have almost eliminated them. Please support these endangered creatures by supporting EEL properties. We don’t want the Scrub-Jay to become extinct because of something we’ve done or allowed.
Reference:
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2022/04/01/malabar-enter-conflict-
resolution-brevard-county-over-sanctuary-trees/7242272001/
Senate Bill 1258 and House Bill 1191
“Use of Phosphogypsum”, that would approve the use of radioactive waste called “phosphogypsum” in road construction. I think these bills should be an embarrassment to us all and we must try to ensure they are not implemented. We already have a polluted Indian River Lagoon, as are most waters within Florida, so why would we want to allow a toxic radioactive waste in any road material to pollute our lagoon or any of our waters further. The EPA currently prohibits using this toxic waste in roadway construction because it poses an unacceptable risk to
public health, water and air quality, and road construction workers. The Phosphogypsum Free America Coalition is asking groups to sign onto a a veto request letter drafted and you can sign on to their site to send comments on stopping expansion of Phosphogypsum acreage or on these bills at https://phosphogypsumfreeamerica.org/
According to an article in Florida Politics.com, “For every ton of phosphorus produced, the process also turns out five tons of phosphogypsum. There are around 1 billion tons of phosphogypsum divided among 24 stacks in Florida, with 30 million new tons created annually.”
The article also stated the Trump administration approved using phosphogypsum for road construction, but in 2021 stated “Upon further review, EPA has determined that the approval was premature and should be withdrawn because the request did not contain all of the required information,” and announced “With this action, phosphogypsum remains prohibited from use in road construction projects.” The article stated phosphogypsum could release cancer-causing radon gas. We don’t want that being able to be spread all over Florida possibly affecting all of our residents.
Reference:
https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1258
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/603161-phosphogypsum-reuse-study-bill-heads-to-senate-
floor/
Senate Bill 106, “Florida Shared-Use Nonmotorized Network.”
The Bill makes trails in the Florida Wildlife Corridor a priority for the SUN Trail program and the state’s greenways and trails network. It also doubles annual SUN Trail spending for new trails to $50 million per year and makes a one-time appropriation of $200 million to accelerate trail construction. The Florida legislature passed this bill and it will be sent to the governor for signature. Among other things, the bill’s analysis states it “Prioritizes the development of
“regionally significant trails” which are defined as trails crossing multiple counties, serving economic and ecotourism development; showcasing the state’s wildlife areas, ecology, and natural resources; and serving as main corridors for trail connectedness across the state.
Reference:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/106
Senate Bill 1240: Land and Water Management
If this bill passes, it would strip local cities and counties of the power to pass local rules on water quality or quantity, pollution control, or wetlands. Cities and counties wouldn’t have the ability to regulate pollution, and that would be exclusively left to state agencies like Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency argued on a 1 December 2022 letter that FDEP had such a poor track record of protecting water quality and threatened to take environmental protection over if they didn’t change their ways. As expected, they bill has significant opposition from environmental groups and local government advocates. The bill also wouldn’t grandfather any local pollution laws already written, such as a rainy season fertilizer ban, and any local ordinances could be eliminated if this bill passes
References:
https://flsenate.gov/session/bill/2023/1240
Senate Bill 880: Biosolids
On first thought, Senate Bill 880 seems positive or at least is trying to go in the right direction. Right now, Titusville and I assume others are dumping Class B Biosolids in land behind I-95 north of the Port St John (PSJ) High School on agriculture land. At times you can even smell it.
Senate Bill 880 creates a biosolids grant program. If the funds are allocated, it allows the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to provide grants to local government projects that construct, upgrade, expand, or retrofit facilities that convert wastewater residuals to Class AA Biosolids. The bill also forbids DEP from allowing land application permits for Class B biosolids within a subwatershed of a waterbody listed as impaired for either nitrogen or phosphorus (like the Indian River Lagoon) unless the applicant proves the phosphorus or
nitrogen in the biosolids will not add to the nutrient load in the impaired water body. Hopefully this las change would stop the Class B application north of our PSJ high school. The bill requires a 50 percent local match for certain projects.
The bad thing about this bill is it still allows Class AA biosolids to be used as fertilizer as does many other states. Unfortunately, EPA ignores hundreds of toxic chemicals it purports to regulate, except in four states in the Southwest. So, its not just nitrogen and phosphorus that is spread on agriculture lands but loads of toxic chemicals that no one is tracking. So, I’m still not comfortable with this bill if we are still allowing biosolids to be used as regular fertilizer.
Reference:
https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/880
https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/epa-ignoring-hundreds-toxic-chemicals-wastewater
Maureen Rupe has served on multiple Boards and Brevard County Advisory Boards. Currently the League of Women Voters, Sierra Club Turtle Coast Executive Committee, Marine Resource Council, Port St. John Special District Advisory Board, and the Parrish Medical Center Board of Directors. Maureen has served on these boards for over 20 years. She has also been appointed to three Brevard County Charter Review Commissions and three Brevard County Redistricting Committees. She also served as President of the Brevard British Club for 26 years. Maureen was born and bred in England. She married Bob, who served and retired from the Air Force, where she made America her home 45 years ago. She is extremely interested in protecting the environment and trying to preserve our Indian River Lagoon.