Draft springs bill would ban new dairy farms and stockyards around springs
Environment and Natural Resources Bruce Ritchie, 03/13/2014 - 04:03 PM
Morris Jackson & Sons Dairy, near Mayo, was one of several farms which participated in a 2010 program to reduce pollution. Draft legislation would prohibit new livestock operations near outstanding springs.
New stockyards, dairy farms and slaughter operations would be banned from areas around major springs under a new draft version of comprehensive springs legislation.
And Sierra Club Florida says the legislation could prohibit local governments from adopting stricter fertilizer ordinances than provided by the state.
Springs across the state have become choked with weeds and algae from high levels of nitrogen in groundwater, according to scientists. Nitrogen sources include farms, fertilizer, dirty stormwater runoff, septic tanks and sewage treatment plants.
SB 1516 by Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, would require septic tanks to be improved or hook up to central sewer in areas with springs with high nitrogen or phosphorus levels. The bill would target actions towards 38 designated "outstanding" springs.
It was scheduled to receive its first vote on Thursday before the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation, which Dean chairs. But he asked for the bill to be temporarily postponed to receive comments on draft new bill language.
"We still feel there are improvements that need to be made and we have not tied the last of the issues together," he said. The bill as filed has support from four other Senate committee chairmen.
The draft language appears to pick up on comments made by Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon Florida, during a Nov. 20 committee workshop. He suggested that "concentrated animal feeding operations" and slaughterhouses along with the land application of sewage treatment plant waste be listed as prohibited uses in the springs areas.
A 2012 permit request by Adena Springs Ranch in Marion County to pump 5.3 million gallons per day for 30,000 cattle and a slaughterhouse sparked opposition from environmentalists.
Dairy farms along the Suwannee River also have been criticized by environmentalists for contributing slime in springs despite millions of dollars spent by agencies and farmers to prevent manure from seeping into groundwater.
Draper said Thursday the intent was not to target existing operations in any area.
"The senators put that (draft) language in," he said. "It's not our goal to target anyone; it's to curtail within springsheds a practice that's known to discharge pollution into their aquifers."
Sam Ard, director of governmental affairs with the Florida Cattlemen's Association, said the bill language raises questions and concerns about whether modifications of existing cattle operations would be affected by the law change.
"We think that any regulatory uncertainty will have a negative effect on existing operations," he said.
Sierra Club Florida lobbyist David Cullen said he is concerned that new language in Section 9 of the draft bill would pre-empt local governments from having stronger ordinances than a state model ordinance regulating fertilizer use. Environmentalists and the landscaping industry and its business allies have battled over this issue in the Legislature for at least the past five years.
The draft bill says "the department shall adopt rules to implement this paragraph that establish reasonable minimum standards for local governments to implement and that reflect advancements or improvements regarding nutrient load reductions."
The draft language "retains some good stuff but it has inserted a residential fertilizer preemption," Cullen said.
"We are decidedly not happy about that," he said. An aide to the senator responded the intent of the draft language was not to establish a pre-emption on local fertilizer ordinances.
Related Research: March 13, 2014 Draft revised SB 1576 springs bill language
Reporter Bruce Ritchie can be reached at britchie@thefloridacurrent.com.
Filed in: Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources
Tags: Fertilizer, Groundwater, Pets and Livestock, Water Quality
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