Legislation aims to protect Florida's sensitive waterways from oil drilling
The bill (HB 1143) by Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, and Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, cleared the State Affairs Committee Tuesday on a unanimous vote after a parade of Franklin County craft brewers, boat operators and tour guides, along with oyster farmers, told lawmakers their livelihood depends on clean water.
They all said a north Florida coastal economy devastated by fear of contamination after the 2010 BP oil spill that contributed to a fishery collapse should not again be put at risk by a wildcat oil rig Clearwater Land and Minerals wants to construct 60 miles upriver from the Apalachicola Bay.
'We don't have options to work in big business. We work on the water. We work with our hands. So it's not a matter if an oil spill happens. It's a matter of when industrial contaminants hit our waterways, pollute our local water resources and ruin our estuary,' said Thomas Saunders of LuckyFly Charters of Apalachicola.
What began as a local effort to protect the Apalachicola River has morphed into legislation that would also place a buffer around the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), where the state's tallest dunes can be found south of St. Augustine, and the Rookery Bay NERR near Naples, home to the Florida panther.
Those two and Apalachicola Bay are ecologically diverse estuaries, bodies of water where rivers meet the sea, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state for research and conservation. There are 30 NERRs nationwide and the designation provided Shoaf the legislative hook needed to block oil drilling in the north Florida wilderness.
Last summer, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced it would permit a Clearwater Land and Minerals exploratory well in Calhoun County at Dead Lakes, in the middle of the Apalachicola NERR, which runs east and west of the river as it flows towards the Apalachicola Bay.
Shoaf wrote a proposal to prohibit exploration, drilling, or production of oil and gas within 10 miles of a NERR – effectively blocking the Clearwater project.
Eric Hamilton of the American Petroleum Institute said he would like to continue to talk to lawmakers about the 10-mile buffer zone. 'We feel it is a bit too far. It's arbitrary. There is no scientific or historic precedent that 10 miles is the right distance,' Hamilton said.
No one objected, however, when Rep. Lindsey Cross, D-St. Petersburg, an environmental scientist, said in debate that 10 miles should be the minimal buffer for an oil project. The measure also requires DEP to conduct a test before issuing any permit to drill within one mile of a water body. Hamilton didn't object to a one-mile buffer zone.
The test would balance the potential harm of a drilling well accident or blowout with the environmental and economic health of a region. Florida is not a major player in the oil industry, contributing fewer than 2,000 of the 13 million barrels a day the U.S. produces, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Adrian Johnson of the state's aquaculture association said most of the state's oyster farms are offshore of Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla counties. Johnson said in the past five years the three counties have grown oyster farming into a $50 million industry and produce one-third of the state's oysters.
'We have little control over what Mother Nature throws at us, but we do have the power to avert a potential disaster that drilling in our area could cause,' added Gayle Johnson of the Indian Lagoon Oyster Co.
The House bill will be scheduled for floor debate and a final vote.
A Senate companion (SB 1300) has two more committees to clear.
The legislative session is currently scheduled to end May 2.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com and is on X as @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida oyster farmers fear impact of oil drilling on Gulf waters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republican support rolls in for legislation to release Epstein files
Republican support is rolling in for a new legislative push in the House to direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release more files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite President Trump's urging to drop the matter. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is leading the push with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), announced on social media Wednesday that five more Republicans had signed on to co-sponsor the measure: Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Eric Burlison (Mo.), and Tim Burchett (Tenn.). 'The American people deserve full transparency,' Van Drew said in a post on the social platform X. 'I will never protect pedophiles or the elites and their circles,' Greene said in another post. Their support for the matter comes despite Trump continuing to press supporters to drop their interest in the Epstein 'hoax.' The issue has split the Republican Party, with members of the president's conservative base expressing outrage about the DOJ and FBI saying in a memo earlier this month that they would not release any more information about the Epstein case — much of which is under seal by courts. Trump continued to fume about the matter on Truth Social on Wednesday, calling those fixed on the case his 'PAST supporters' and asserting: 'I don't want their support anymore!' Massie and Khanna have pledged to start a discharge petition to circumvent House Republican leadership and force a vote on the matter. The rarely successful mechanism requires 218 signatures — a majority of the House — to bypass House leadership and force a vote on a measure. But if all Democrats support the discharge petition, only a handful of Republican votes would be needed to trigger the vote — making the support from the six Republicans particularly notable. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) made waves Tuesday when he said the Trump administration 'should put everything out there and let the people decide,' seemingly breaking with the White House. On Wednesday, Johnson said his words were 'misrepresented,' insisting there's no daylight between his position and that of Trump. 'Go watch the interview I did with Benny Johnson. I was very clear,' Johnson told reporters in the Capitol. 'We're for transparency. I'm saying the same thing the president is, that, I mean, you need to have all of the credible information released for the American people to make their decision. We trust the American people. And I know the president does, as well, that's an important principle to abide by here.' The Massie and Khanna legislation would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to 'make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys' Offices' that have links with Epstein within 30 days of the measure becoming law. It also says the files cannot 'be withheld, delayed, or redacted' should they cause 'embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Senate works overnight in bid to pass Trump's DOGE cuts package as deadline looms
The Senate is working overnight into the early hours of Thursday morning as it weighs whether to claw back $9 billion in federal funds already congressionally approved for foreign aid and public broadcasting programs as a deadline to act on the White House priority looms. A 'vote-a-rama' on the administration's request – known as a 'rescission package' on Capitol Hill – began Wednesday afternoon after senators narrowly cleared two procedural hurdles late Tuesday to move closer to a final vote. If passed, the GOP effort would effectively codify a small portion of the Department of Government Efficiency's spending cuts. The Senate and House must pass the legislation by Friday, under an obscure presidential budget law used to circumvent the filibuster, or be forced to start over at a later date. It was not immediately clear when a final vote would take place, but it appeared poised Wednesday afternoon to pass with a potential tie-breaking vote from the vice president. The effort appeared to get a boost Tuesday when Senate Republicans signaled resolution on sticking points related to a key global health initiative and rural radio access. Despite that progress, three GOP senators joined Democrats in voting against the measure later that night, forcing party leadership to once again summon Vice President JD Vance to the Capitol to help advance it. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who along with top Senate appropriator Susan Collins and former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell voted against the package Tuesday, defended her vote in the face of a threat from President Donald Trump to withhold support from any Republican who opposes the bill. The Alaska Republican said she took the legislative power of the purse 'personally,' adding, 'So I'm going to execute on it. The president can say what he's going to say, but that's fine. I'm going to do what I'm going to do.' Murkowski declined to say how she would vote after the marathon voting session on amendments. Unlike in other vote-a-ramas, the amendments offered to the rescissions package must be 'germane' to the bill, which limits the kinds of amendments lawmakers can offer. Still, the process allows Republicans to make changes to the legislation and provides Democrats an opportunity to force their Republican colleagues to vote on politically difficult issues. Sticking points Among the changes Republicans are expected to make to the bill is the removal of a controversial $400 million cut that senators believed would impact the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. Gavi, an organization focused on providing vaccinations for children around the world, would also not face cuts in the package, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters. 'We were reassured by the [White House Office of Management and Budget] director that would not be affected in this process,' he said. On another front, Sen. Mike Rounds announced he would back the measure after working out an agreement that would keep funds flowing to rural radio stations in his state of South Dakota, an issue he's been working for weeks to resolve. Rounds said of his negotiations on X: 'We wanted to make sure tribal broadcast services in South Dakota continued to operate which provide potentially lifesaving emergency alerts,' and said that he worked with the Trump administration to find 'money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption.' The OMB director projected confidence about the package, despite the expected changes to it. 'We're fine with adjustments. This is still a great package,' Russ Vought told reporters after a closed-door meeting with GOP senators Tuesday. The Senate, he added at the time, 'has to work its will and we've appreciated the work along the way to get to a place where they think they've got the votes.' Despite the OMB director's visit to the Senate GOP lunch, Collins and Murkowski, in explaining their votes, argued they had not received specific information from the administration on how the cuts could affect global health programs and public broadcasting. Murkowski also argued that the rescissions package from the White House sets a harmful precedent undermining Congressional authority. 'We're lawmakers. We should be legislating. What we're getting now is a direction from the White House and being told, 'This is the priority. We want you to execute on it. We'll be back with you with another round,'' she said ahead of the procedural votes on the package. 'I don't accept that. I'm going to be voting no.' Thune on Wednesday acknowledged concerns from the three Republican senators over how specific cuts would be carried out, saying they made a 'fair point.' 'The administration needs to be more specific. I think that's a fair point. But this is an area of the law historically where it isn't as specific. In most cases, when it comes to the State Department, grant a good deal of flexibility about how to allocate some of the resources that Congress appropriates. But I don't disagree. I think that more specificity would be a good thing,' the Republican leader said. Thune said despite the lack of details, he and most members of his conference felt like they had enough information to advance the bill that's expected to pass Wednesday or Thursday. House test on the horizon Since senators are planning to make changes to the bill, it is expected to have to return to the House for final passage – marking the second time this month the Senate GOP would be jamming the House on a Trump priority. House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in the day encouraged the Senate to send the package back to his chamber 'as is' due to the House Republicans' narrow majority. The Louisiana Republican said he's urged the Senate 'as I always do, to please keep the product unamended, because we have a narrow margin and we got to pass it.' 'We're going to process whatever they send us, whenever they send us. I'm hopeful that it will be soon,' Johnson said Tuesday. This headline and story have been updated with additional developments. CNN's Lauren Fox, Alison Main, Manu Raju, Casey Riddle, Veronica Stracqaulursi, Maggie McCabe and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GOP rep on Trump, Epstein files: ‘This is not a good moment'
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) on Wednesday discussed the ongoing uproar over files related to an investigation on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and President Trump's recent pushback, saying it is 'not a good moment.' 'This is not a good moment. And I think that, you know, so I'm open if the President has information that we do not have, I want to hear it,' Burlison told NewsNation's Blake Burman on 'The Hill.' 'But I think the — the American people right now, they expected these files to be released. And I think, look, we've got how many victims, right? Hundreds of young girls were victimized. And I think the American people and these victims deserve to have some kind of clarity,' he added. Republican support recently came in for a new legislative push in the House to direct the Justice Department to release additional files on Epstein, despite pressure from Trump to drop the matter. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have headed up the push, with Massie announcing on Wednesday that five more Republicans had signed on to co-sponsor the measure. The five included Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Burlison and Tim Burchett (Tenn.). 'The American people deserve full transparency,' Van Drew said on the social platform X. 'I will never protect pedophiles or the elites and their circles,' Greene said in her own post. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
