Want to challenge an environmental decision in Florida? It might cost you

With weeks to go before the Florida Legislative session even begins, a pair of solid contenders for “Worst Bills of the Year” have entered the fray.

House Bill 789 and Senate Bill 738 are a pair of proposals which — if passed — could penalize citizens who challenge a state environmental decision and lose by saddling them with up to $50,000 in court costs.

These bills mirror a law passed last session that similarly forces anyone who challenges a local comprehensive plan or comp plan amendment and loses to pay the "prevailing party's" legal fees.

Backers say it's all about "fundamental fairness," but in reality, these bills are designed to intimidate citizens and make them think twice about challenging questionable environmental decisions. Sure, you can still file your challenge. But if you lose — better have your checkbook handy.

For a closer look at these proposals, check out our report.

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Clean water amendment fell short. But the fight's not over

The drive to get a “Right to Clean and Healthy Waters” Constitutional Amendment was unable to get the 900,000 petitions it needed to qualify for the 2024 ballot. But that doesn't mean the idea is dead.

In a Tampa Bay Times op-ed, Joseph Bonasia, chairperson of the Florida Rights of Nature Network, wrote that the campaign will be back in 2026, bolstered by "a statewide infrastructure of seasoned volunteers" as well as the 110,000 Floridians who signed the 2024 petition, and are poised to sign anew.

"We need this right, we deserve this right and we will in the near future have this right against the wishes of a state Legislature that is often more intent on protecting special interests than in adequately protecting citizens and Florida waters," wrote Bonasia. And we couldn't agree more.

Kudos to those behind the 2024 drive — and VoteWater will be there to help with the next go-round in 2026!

Website makes it easier to visualize pollution

Stuart attorney (and VoteWater board member) Todd Thurlow, who maintains the eyeonlakeo.com website — featuring current and historical data about the lake, discharges, algal blooms and more — has added a helpful new tool to the site to help you visualize where the nutrient pollution fouling the lake and our estuaries is coming from.

Using publicly available data, Thurlow maps sub-basins, water flow and more. The "Water Data Maps" page dramatizes the degree to which Basin Management Action Plans, the state's premier pollution-control program, is failing — and it's an extraordinarily useful tool for those of us following these issues.

VISIT WATER DATA MAPS

ICYMI: Should a project with regional benefits be halted by local concerns?

In our most recent "Deep Dive" we take a look at the proposed Lower Kissimmee Basin Stormwater Treatment Area in Okeechobee County, the specifics on how much pollution it could keep from entering the lake — and the local opposition that could stop it from being built.

It's a crucial question, one we're seeing pop up with other clean-water proposals: What happens when you have a good project, in a spot that’s perfect from a scientific/nutrient removal standpoint — but the nearby residents don’t want it?

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