Hope Springs Eternal - Springs-Time in the Senate :)

Received this in an email:

Dear Folks,

Goodness Gracious!

Senate Bill 1576: “Aquifer and Springs Protection Act” passed its second committee hearing today.
The Senate Agriculture (AG) committee voted unanimously in favor of the bill w/out any committee discussion or debate.

That followed being voted unanimously (8:0 on the Springs Equinox) in favor of the bill in the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation (EP) committee.

These are times to celebrate.
Thanks for your efforts in this endeavor J

You may send Thank Yous to the Senate AG members and the SB 1576 writers with this list: montford.bill.web@flsenate.gov, bullard.dwight.web@flsenate.gov, brandes.jeff.web@flsenate.gov, galvano.bill.web@flsenate.gov, garcia.rene.web@flsenate.gov, grimsley.denise.web@flsenate.gov, sachs.maria.web@flsenate.gov, simmons.david.web@flsenate.com; simpson.wilton.web@flsenate.gov; dean.charles.web@flsenate.gov; hays.alan.web@flsenate.gov

Last year the Florida legislators voted April as "Springs Protection Awareness Month," therefore let’s really keep at it to help raise the awareness of how important it is to protect the Floridan Aquifer and Her Springs.

More water flows from Florida springs then all the springs in the world combined –a rare gift indeed, right beneath our feet!

We've got to encourage the House: The House companion Springs bill, HB 1313, has yet to be scheduled to its first committee hearing!

In the Senate, it's next onto Appropriations. I’ll send an e-mail out soon on who to contact.

Best Wishes,
Jeannette

p.s. Ironically, at the same time today that the Senate AG comm was unanimously passing the “Aquifer/Springs Protection Act,” in the House the AG and Natural Resources Appropriations Sub-committee (ANRAS) passed Patronis HB 703 (8:4) that has been called “anti-river, anti-springs, anti-home rule, and anti-planning.”

There are lots of bills in both houses that can be called anti-springs, for ex. SB372 and its companion HB241 purpose is to dilute whatever regulatory strength there’s left for Developments of Regional Impact (DRI). DRIs were created in 1972 under the governor-ship of Guv Reubin Askew in his first two years as governor b/c they had a situation where a development was going to build a sub-division on a water recharge area in one county (Lake County) affecting the other county (Seminole), so they developed DRIs, a special planning process. Guv Askew said that, “This was a critical state of concern b/c Florida was losing so many key environmental places in the state. So we’ve got to protect them. If local governments don’t respond, we have to establish a State standard that forces local governments into that relationship.” Godspeed Governor Askew.

Here are some legislative tracking pages of Environmental Protection Organizations websites if you would like to follow bills like this and lobby against them:
http://audubonoffloridanews.org/?page_id=14407
http://www.1000friendsofflorida.org/...ative-session/

And for planning your next Springy Road-Trip:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/springs/
p.s.s. I would call ahead and check on water conditions. One year I went to Peacock Springs State Park in Live Oak –now called Wes Skiles Peacock Springs—and they weren’t letting anyone in b/c the water was so murky. That was during the drought –the rain has probably helped clear it up (We’ve got to work at this.).






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk