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A sneak attack on local government urban fertilizer ordinances was slipped into the 2023-24 budget in the very last days of the legislative session. There was no committee hearing, no staff analysis, and no opportunity for public comment or debate! The sneaky move prohibits local governments from adopting or amending urban fertilizer ordinances that include a rainy season application ban. 

The prohibition is tied to a $250,000 appropriation to the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) at the University of Florida for a “study.” Both the prohibition and the study need to go.

A line-item veto of the proviso language authorizing the IFAS study in the 2023-2024 Budget would eliminate the basis for the ban.

Rainy season urban fertilizer management has long been a non-partisan, common sense, science-based approach to protecting Florida’s environment and economy since 2007. Over seventeen counties and well over 100 municipalities have strict rainy season application bans.  Avoiding fertilizer application before Florida’s heavy summer downpours is a no-brainer: it is the cheapest, easiest, and best way to stop urban stormwater pollution at its source. 

Urban fertilizer fuels blue-green algae and Red Tide.

Send the governor a strong message: tying the hands of county/city governments from protecting the engines of their local waterfront economies is madness! 

SEND THIS MESSAGE TO GOV. DESANTIS at governorron.desantis@eog.myflorida.com  

 

Subject line:  LINE ITEM VETO TO SAVE THE IRL FROM URBAN FERTILIZER POLLUTION

I urge you to veto the proviso following line item 146 in SB 2500 reading in part “...$250,000 in nonrecurring funds shall be used by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) to evaluate the effectiveness of the timing of seasonal fertilizer restrictions on urban landscapes toward achieving nutrient target objectives for waterbodies statewide.”

Your veto will save the popular, science-based, non-partisan urban pollution control measures that have been adopted across the state over the last 16 years. Failure to veto this line will tie the hands of local governments from protecting their own waterfront economies by prohibiting new effective urban fertilizer ordinances.

Veto the proviso to specific appropriation 146 for the boat captains, waterfront hotels and restaurants, tourists, and everyone who calls Florida their home. Ensure that the urban fertilizer programs we know lead to improved water quality continue leading us to a healthier and safer Florida for all.

Don’t make it harder to stop the urban fertilizer that fuels blue-green algae and Red Tide! 

 

Sincerely,

 

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