The Environmental Regulation Commission on Tuesday will consider changes to regulations dealing with "biosolids." That's the term used to describe the waste from sewage treatment plants, also called sewage sludge.Spreading biosolids or sewage sludge on land has raised health and safety concerns in some counties. The National Academy of Sciences says the use of biosolids on crops presents a "
Monday, 30 November 2009
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Florida planners face legislative scrutiny on growth
Posted on 12:47 by Unknown
State planners say it would take 268 years of population growth to use up the new home lots that already are allowed in Tallahassee and Leon County.In DeSoto and Jackson counties, it would take even longer: DeSoto would require 328 years of growth and Jackson County would require 996 years.Despite -- or perhaps because of -- what the Florida Department of Community Affairs says is an
Monday, 23 November 2009
Florida CFO Sink announces "paperless" initiative
Posted on 12:23 by Unknown
Florida CFO Alex Sink says her department's efforts to reduce the use of paper and printing have saved state taxpayers $1 million since 2007.Sink, whose elected position places her in charge of the state Department of Financial Services, today announced a legislative proposal to require electronic payments from some vendors instead of processing paper warrants. She called it part of the "Going
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Industry reps slam DEP bag ban recommendation
Posted on 14:53 by Unknown
Representatives of stores and packaging industries slammed the Department of Environmental Protection today for a draft report's recommendation to tax and then ban plastic and paper bags in Florida.DEP posted the draft report Oct. 15, then withdrew it two days later after criticism. Still, industry representatives said today they disagreed with the recommended tax and ban and said more regulation
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
DEP meeting follows withdrawal of retail bags ban report
Posted on 13:27 by Unknown
Following an uproar last month over a draft proposal to ban plastic and paper shopping bags, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday holds another public workshop on whether to regulate bags.DEP last month withdrew a draft report that recommended taxing bags by up to 25 cents each and then banning them by 2015. The Legislature in 2008 adopted a bill prohibiting local
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Cabinet approves land-buying bonds, Keys oversight
Posted on 11:53 by Unknown
Bald Point State Park, purchased by the state under the Florida Forever predecessor program.Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet today approved a resolution issuing $250 million in bonds for buying conservation lands, representing the last money approved by the Legislature for the program.Florida Forever program is the largest land-buying program in the nation, having acquired more than 2 million
Monday, 16 November 2009
Judge backs enviro groups, EPA settlement
Posted on 11:03 by Unknown
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle today said he will approve a legal settlement that calls for the federal government to set specific water quality standards for nutrients in Florida -- a move that industry groups and Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson have opposed.Florida now prohibits excessive nitrogen and phosphorus that cause an imbalance of fish and plants in waterways.
Friday, 13 November 2009
FDA delays raw oyster ban, Florida reaction mixed
Posted on 14:07 by Unknown
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today backed off a proposal to ban the sale of raw oysters from Gulf states during summer months by 2011.The federal agency instead says it plans to study the issue and work with industry to develop a new timetable for possibly requiring the treatment of raw oysters. The announcement was met with mixed reviews among seafood industry supporters.U.S. Rep. Allen
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Two Florida DEP heads join opposition to EPA standards
Posted on 11:19 by Unknown
Virginia Wetherell, left, speaks to reporters while Colleen Castille waits to speak. Both are former Florida DEP secretaries.Opponents of federal water quality standards for nutrients in Florida waterways raised their level of opposition today, unveiling a Web site and two former state environmental chiefs who are on their side.Scientists say nutrients from a variety of sources, including farms,
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Florida PSC wants to consider new conservation goals
Posted on 13:45 by Unknown
Saying that it wants more flexibility, the Florida Public Service Commission today unanimously directed its staff to develop new proposed conservation goals for seven utilities by Dec. 1.Environmental groups had objected to the PSC staff recommendations, which they said in some cases established weaker goals than the state's largest utilities had proposed. The commission, under fire from some
Monday, 9 November 2009
Senate president calls for study of "complicated" drilling issue
Posted on 13:04 by Unknown
Senate President Jeff Atwater today announced that Senate committee staff would conduct a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling with no timeline for completion.The House earlier this year approved a bill to allow oil drilling in Florida's Gulf waters as close as three miles to the coast. But the Senate refused to act on the bill, which faced environmental
Friday, 6 November 2009
Florida officials react to proposed federal oyster ban
Posted on 12:39 by Unknown
Some Florida elected officials this week urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration not to ban raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico during warmer months.The FDA proposes banning the sale of raw oysters unless the shellfish are treated to destroy bacteria that are potentially deadly to certain risk groups. But Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said treatment options are limited and some
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
House members vent against EPA water standards
Posted on 14:48 by Unknown
Members of a Florida House panel complained today about the potential cost of water quality standards that could be proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January, agreeing with industry representatives who said businesses and households will be affected.Scientists say high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus are contributing to algal blooms in springs, rivers and beaches across
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Florida land-buying program absorbs more revenue
Posted on 17:34 by Unknown
With the downturn in the state's economy, Florida's conservation land-buying program is sucking up an increasingly larger share of tax revenue from real estate transactions, a state finance official told House members today.Florida's land-buying program is the largest in the nation, having acquired more than 2 million acres since 1990. But the program received no new money this year for the first
Monday, 2 November 2009
State's Babcock Ranch receives grazing award
Posted on 13:37 by Unknown
Babcock Ranch has received an award for grazing practices at the 73,476-acre state preserve in Collier and Charlotte counties.The Florida Section of the Society for Range Management announced that Babcock Ranch, which is operated as a private ranch on state land, will receive the first Grazing Lands Stewardship Award, according to the state agriculture officials.This award, given jointly by the
Effects of "Dead Zone" on Gulf shrimping studied
Posted on 08:38 by Unknown
By Florida State University and FloridaEnvironments.comA team of researchers from Florida State University, Duke University and the National Marine Fisheries Service will study the environmental and economic impacts of the vast “dead zone” in the northern Gulf of Mexico on shrimping in the regionDead zones result from low oxygen caused by algal blooms that render waters inhospitable to animal
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