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Seagrass Bill Add-On Raises Concerns For Some
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Published: June 4, 2008
Updated: 06/04/2008 12:22 am
TAMPA - Experts sometimes describe the swishy underwater habitat as a nursery, other times a fish factory.
No matter what it's called, seagrass, which grows in shallow water and provides food and habitat for several fish species, is fragile. So environmentalists felt they scored a key victory this spring when state lawmakers agreed to crack down on boaters who rip up seagrass beds in aquatic preserves such as Cockroach Bay in Ruskin in Hillsborough County and Terra Ceia in Manatee County.
In the weeks after the legislative session came to a close, a little-noticed amendment to the bill started making headlines. The amendment, submitted by Rep. Will Kendrick, R-Carrabelle, calls for the establishment of seagrass mitigation banks, which would allow developers to destroy seagrass beds as long as they paid to restore seagrass elsewhere.
The mitigation provision was a red flag for some environmentalists, who see it as a way to justify development along Florida's coastline - in effect destroying the seagrass they originally tried to protect.
Gov. Charlie Crist's office has received scores of phone calls and e-mails to veto the bill, according to his press office, and newspapers across the state have editorialized on the matter, calling for the governor to kill it.
Monica Reimer, an attorney for the group Earth Justice, says the amendment will allow developers to build in areas previously protected.
"It is something that environmentalists in Florida are very, very concerned about because when you lose them, they're gone. And they're ours. It's real easy to lose them to development," she said.
However, not all environmentalists are on the same page. Although most agree the bill would be better off without the controversial provision, some question the reasoning behind scuttling an otherwise good bill for the sake of an amendment they say doesn't have much muscle.
"I think that some of the groups campaigning against the bill are overstating the issue," said Eric Draper, lobbyist for the Audubon of Florida, one of the organizations that pushed for seagrass protection and shepherded the bill through the Legislature.
Draper points out that the amendment uses the term "may" instead of "shall," a minor victory some environmentalists scored during the hectic final days of the legislative session. Instead of mandating that the Cabinet allow seagrass mitigation banking, the language now says the governor and Cabinet may choose to do so, Draper said.
"In legal and legislative terms, the word 'may' is meaningless. It's a permissive word," Draper said.
The state's Department of Environmental Protection agrees. The agency has been pushing for the bill's passage.
"I think it's important to understand that the amendment allows the trustees to establish mitigation banks; it does not dictate that they have to be done," said Sarah Williams, spokeswoman for the department. "I think that's where there's been a lot of confusion."
Mitigation banking can be a loaded term in Florida, where developers who want to build on sensitive wetlands can purchase credits from companies that restore wetlands elsewhere. Mitigation banking for seagrass would work in a similar fashion, but some environmentalists worry that's not a proven strategy.
"It does create perception that seagrass mitigation is a viable alternative, and I think the jury's out on that," said Janet Bowman, a lobbyist for the Nature Conservancy, an organization that has not said firmly whether it wants Crist to veto or sign the bill.
Aside from the amendment, Bowman said she likes almost everything else in the bill, which calls for fines for boaters who scar seagrass beds with their propellers. The fines would range from $50 for the first offense to $1,000 for the fourth.
Kendrick said he objects to accusations that he filed the amendment at the last minute; his amendment was brought up at a late-night April 15 meeting, not in the final week of the session, when amendments often appear on big bills.
"What I got blamed for is sort of putting a sour taste in my mouth," he said.
Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or nwhite1@tampatrib.ocm.
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