Florida Peeps! Need your help!
Urgent: We Need Your Immediate Help!
HB 989 has been substituted for SB 2288 and will be voted on by the full Florida Senate at any time, as it is on the calendar for a third and final reading. Time is of the essence!
What You Can Do:
Please e-mail all Florida state senators as soon as possible (see contact information below) and ask them to "Vote NO on HB 989" (please put this in the subject line of the e-mail). Let them know full permit reviews are necessary to ensure Florida's publicly owned lands are protected for all Floridians!
Please also send a copy of your e-mail to Governor Bush and ask him to veto the bill if it passes.
If you want to include more detail or get more background on the issue, see below:
Contact Information
Florida Senate Members
You can copy and paste the following e-mail list of the Florida Senators into the "To" line of your e-mail.
alexander.jd.web@flsenate.gov; argenziano.nancy.web@flsenate.gov; aronberg.dave.web@flsenate.gov; atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov; baker.carey.web@flsenate.gov; bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov; bullard.larcenia.web@flsenate.gov; campbell.walter.web@flsenate.gov; carlton.lisa.web@flsenate.gov; clary.charlie.web@flsenate.gov; constantine.lee.web@flsenate.gov; crist.victor.web@flsenate.gov; dawson.mandy.web@flsenate.gov; portilla.alex.web@flsenate.gov; dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov; fasano.mike.web@flsenate.gov; garcia.rudy.web@flsenate.gov; geller.steven.web@flsenate.gov; haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov; hill.anthony.web@flsenate.gov; jones.dennis.web@flsenate.gov; king.james.web@flsenate.gov; klein.ron.web@flsenate.gov; lawson.alfred.web@flsenate.gov; lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov; lynn.evelyn.web@flsenate.gov; margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov; miller.lesley.web@flsenate.gov; peaden.durell.web@flsenate.gov; posey.bill.web@flsenate.gov; pruitt.ken.web@flsenate.gov; rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov; saunders.burt.web@flsenate.gov; sebesta.jim.web@flsenate.gov; siplin.gary.web@flsenate.gov; smith.rod.web@flsenate.gov; villalobos.alex.web@flsenate.gov; wilson.frederica.web@flsenate.gov; wise.stephen.web@flsenate.gov
Senator Daniel Webster does not have an e-mail address. If you have time, please give his office a call at (850) 487-5047 and tell them that you would like the Senator to vote NO on HB 989.
Be sure to also give your name and regular mailing address in the e-mail.
Â
Florida Governor Jeb Bush
jeb.bush@myflorida.com
The Issue
This bill is an unprecedented broadening of the General Permit program, authorizing general permits for public marinas and boat ramps up to 50,000 square feet (nearly the size of a football field!) of state owned submerged land without proper review of the environmental consequences. Under the proposed bill, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) authority to review such applications will be extremely limited. In other words, a marina with an unlimited number of slips may be authorized in sensitive areas like aquatic preserves, while wildlife, including the endangered Florida manatee, and important habitat, including seagrass, will not be considered or protected! There are much better ways to improve public access to Florida's waterways without sacrificing our sea grass communities and water quality. Large projects like these should undergo a full permit review. Wildlife and aquatic habitat must be considered and adequate protection measures included as permit conditions!
Talking Points:
Please e-mail the Florida state senators and Governor Bush and tell them the DEP and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission must continue to be allowed to FULLY review projects that may adversely impact Florida's publicly owned sensitive waters and wildlife! Specific to this bill, tell them:
1. They should stop HB 989's attempts to force boating access in the wrong places. Tell them 50,000 square feet is much too large to authorize by general permit when it comes to our limited aquatic environment. Therefore, a full permit review, under all applicable statutes and rules, is not only appropriate, but is necessary to ensure wildlife, habitat, and water quality issues are all fully addressed.
2. The current bill language offers no review of whether a marina or ramp is proposed in an appropriate location (including habitat and navigation issues). Additionally they will not be allowed to consider if protection measures including speed zones, signage, and enforcement are adequate and in place. As a consequence, unprecedented damage in environmentally sensitive areas (including sea grasses) could be automatically permitted, and Florida's natural resources and public will be placed at an increased risk by lack of planning, protection, or law enforcement.
3. Scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and DEP know this is a bad bill for state resources. If the bill becomes law, many more acres of sea grass will be lost and potential impacts to other aquatic resources will not be considered prior to permitting. After automatic authorizations are given, it will be too late to do anything about it. Let them know that while you support the Clean Marina Program, it is woefully inadequate, as the single requirement, to ensure the environmental protection that could and should be required under permit authorization.
4. Finally, even though the stated purpose of the bill is to assist local governments in providing additional public access, the floating platforms exemption provisions are a slap in the face to local governments that want to protect public resources such as sea grasses or their local citizens' quality of life and private property values.
Thank you for your help!
HB 989 has been substituted for SB 2288 and will be voted on by the full Florida Senate at any time, as it is on the calendar for a third and final reading. Time is of the essence!
What You Can Do:
Please e-mail all Florida state senators as soon as possible (see contact information below) and ask them to "Vote NO on HB 989" (please put this in the subject line of the e-mail). Let them know full permit reviews are necessary to ensure Florida's publicly owned lands are protected for all Floridians!
Please also send a copy of your e-mail to Governor Bush and ask him to veto the bill if it passes.
If you want to include more detail or get more background on the issue, see below:
Contact Information
Florida Senate Members
You can copy and paste the following e-mail list of the Florida Senators into the "To" line of your e-mail.
alexander.jd.web@flsenate.gov; argenziano.nancy.web@flsenate.gov; aronberg.dave.web@flsenate.gov; atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov; baker.carey.web@flsenate.gov; bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov; bullard.larcenia.web@flsenate.gov; campbell.walter.web@flsenate.gov; carlton.lisa.web@flsenate.gov; clary.charlie.web@flsenate.gov; constantine.lee.web@flsenate.gov; crist.victor.web@flsenate.gov; dawson.mandy.web@flsenate.gov; portilla.alex.web@flsenate.gov; dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov; fasano.mike.web@flsenate.gov; garcia.rudy.web@flsenate.gov; geller.steven.web@flsenate.gov; haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov; hill.anthony.web@flsenate.gov; jones.dennis.web@flsenate.gov; king.james.web@flsenate.gov; klein.ron.web@flsenate.gov; lawson.alfred.web@flsenate.gov; lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov; lynn.evelyn.web@flsenate.gov; margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov; miller.lesley.web@flsenate.gov; peaden.durell.web@flsenate.gov; posey.bill.web@flsenate.gov; pruitt.ken.web@flsenate.gov; rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov; saunders.burt.web@flsenate.gov; sebesta.jim.web@flsenate.gov; siplin.gary.web@flsenate.gov; smith.rod.web@flsenate.gov; villalobos.alex.web@flsenate.gov; wilson.frederica.web@flsenate.gov; wise.stephen.web@flsenate.gov
Senator Daniel Webster does not have an e-mail address. If you have time, please give his office a call at (850) 487-5047 and tell them that you would like the Senator to vote NO on HB 989.
Be sure to also give your name and regular mailing address in the e-mail.
Â
Florida Governor Jeb Bush
jeb.bush@myflorida.com
The Issue
This bill is an unprecedented broadening of the General Permit program, authorizing general permits for public marinas and boat ramps up to 50,000 square feet (nearly the size of a football field!) of state owned submerged land without proper review of the environmental consequences. Under the proposed bill, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) authority to review such applications will be extremely limited. In other words, a marina with an unlimited number of slips may be authorized in sensitive areas like aquatic preserves, while wildlife, including the endangered Florida manatee, and important habitat, including seagrass, will not be considered or protected! There are much better ways to improve public access to Florida's waterways without sacrificing our sea grass communities and water quality. Large projects like these should undergo a full permit review. Wildlife and aquatic habitat must be considered and adequate protection measures included as permit conditions!
Talking Points:
Please e-mail the Florida state senators and Governor Bush and tell them the DEP and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission must continue to be allowed to FULLY review projects that may adversely impact Florida's publicly owned sensitive waters and wildlife! Specific to this bill, tell them:
1. They should stop HB 989's attempts to force boating access in the wrong places. Tell them 50,000 square feet is much too large to authorize by general permit when it comes to our limited aquatic environment. Therefore, a full permit review, under all applicable statutes and rules, is not only appropriate, but is necessary to ensure wildlife, habitat, and water quality issues are all fully addressed.
2. The current bill language offers no review of whether a marina or ramp is proposed in an appropriate location (including habitat and navigation issues). Additionally they will not be allowed to consider if protection measures including speed zones, signage, and enforcement are adequate and in place. As a consequence, unprecedented damage in environmentally sensitive areas (including sea grasses) could be automatically permitted, and Florida's natural resources and public will be placed at an increased risk by lack of planning, protection, or law enforcement.
3. Scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and DEP know this is a bad bill for state resources. If the bill becomes law, many more acres of sea grass will be lost and potential impacts to other aquatic resources will not be considered prior to permitting. After automatic authorizations are given, it will be too late to do anything about it. Let them know that while you support the Clean Marina Program, it is woefully inadequate, as the single requirement, to ensure the environmental protection that could and should be required under permit authorization.
4. Finally, even though the stated purpose of the bill is to assist local governments in providing additional public access, the floating platforms exemption provisions are a slap in the face to local governments that want to protect public resources such as sea grasses or their local citizens' quality of life and private property values.
Thank you for your help!