NEW ENVIRONMENTAL BILLS

With the Florida Legislative session underway, lawmakers say they plan to attack pollution at the source. Governor Ron DeSantis, has endorsed two bills that would create new environmental rules. One bill would increase penalties for sewage spills with fines going up 50% to $15,000 a day. The “Clean Waterways Act” shifts oversight of septic tanks from the state Department of Health to the Department of Environmental Protection, and directs DEP to adopt rules for where septic tanks can be located. Another bill would investigate the state’s blue- green algae problem, which has been troublesome for communities connected to Lake Okeechobee by the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.