FLORIDA HAS GONE SOFT ON POLLUTERS

[nosmokes]

The thing about the Bush family's public service is the damage they do is long term and not an easy fix.
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original-peer

For Immediate Release: November 25, 2008
Contact: Jeff Ruch [phone]

FLORIDA HAS GONE SOFT ON POLLUTERS

— A Look at 20 Years of History Shows Move Away from Tough Enforcement

Tallahassee — Florida is significantly more lenient with polluters than in the past, according to a new analysis of the past 20 years of enforcement statistics released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The result is that violators in the Sunshine State more often get away with paying small fines without even a requirement to clean up pollution or follow up to make sure the violation is not continuing.

The new analysis, titled Report on Enforcement Efforts by the Florida Department of Environmental protection: A Historical Perspective, is a detailed breakdown of data from 1988 to present on how the Florida DEP treats violators. The report also analyzes enforcement performance for each DEP program.

“The data show that there actually were good old days for pollution control in Florida,” stated Florida PEER Director Jerry Phillips, a former DEP enforcement attorney. “Unfortunately, those good old days are long gone, replaced by a paper pushing system that has no teeth.”

The significant increase in Florida’s population over the period has resulted in an increase in the total number of state environmental enforcement cases but the effectiveness of that enforcement activity has declined. As measures, the report points to –

* A significant drop in requirements that violators perform restoration or other actions that actually reduce the pollution discharges;
* The amount of penalties assessed for pollution violations, when adjusted for inflation, is now lower than it was 20 years ago. The Florida Legislature compounded the problem when it set penalty schedules in 2001 that all but guaranteed polluters would continue to pay lower fines; and
* The percentage of penalties actually collected for state coffers has also been in a downward trend.

“If the state does not even collect the modest fines that it assesses, one has to ask what is the point?” added Phillips, noting that the lost revenue from uncollected penalties further aggravates DEP budget shortfalls. “The cumulative effect of lax enforcement makes Florida a less attractive place to live.”

DEP itself appears to recognize the growing ineffectiveness of its enforcement program. On July 18, 2007, DEP Secretary Michael Sole unveiled a new civil pollution fine schedule, declaring “I want to change the idea that ‘penalties are a cost of doing business’ by emphasizing the agency’s tough stance against violators.” That new schedule does not appear to have reversed the sagging enforcement drift

“In Florida, state penalties remain an acceptable cost of doing business as usual precisely because DEP does not employ the enforcement tools that it has long had at its disposal,” Phillips concluded.

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complete release including links to related sources here

[lib2DaBone]

1. Florida has gone soft on everyone except homosexual Congressional Politicians and Madmen...

Mark Foley?....never Happened. Katherine Harris?...never Happened. Jeb Bush?..never happened.


Go back to sleep America. All is well is Republicanville.

[HillbillyBob]

2. They also do not enforce labor and OSHA laws.

I worked as an electrician, they did not enforce laws that would protect us from pay rip offs , bouncing paychecks, I got hurt on the job when a piece of ductwork fell from where it had been installed improperly and gouged a big gash in my face cuting my eye. I had to take myself to the hospital and was then fired when I applied to workmans comp to pay for 15 stitches and and eye exam and meds for a cut on my cornea.
That same job site was along the New River in Fort Lauderdale, the water would come into the basement and they would dump toxic diesel fuel in the water and you could see it seep out into the river in streaks.

[lib2DaBone]

3. Hope you are feeling better H.Bob... Florida is the pits for workers...

If there EVER.. EVER.. EVER.. was a State that was ripe for a strong Labor Union.. it would be Floirda.

The worker abuses here go beyond the wildest imagination.

Hotel Workers, School Workers, Bus Drivers, Truck Drivers, Food Workers, Health Care Workers, Convience Stores, Prisons, Police, Firefighters..

Every worker in this State is getting SCREWED!

[Edweird]

5. It's a difficult subject for DU. Some of the reasons aren't 'PC'.

But, honestly, compared to the rest of the South, it isn't all THAT bad.

[lib2DaBone]

7. I've only been working in Florida since 1980.....so I'm a newbie.

..in 28 years.. I've seen Corporations like Marriott, Hilton, Westinghouse and General Development make BILLIONS in Florida.

They work people to death, treat them like crap, cut benefits and always promise workers a fair wage "at a later date". It's always... "when the company makes money, you will get paid".

Well Surprise... even though the Corporations have made billions, that pay day never comes.

For anyone in doubt about the history of Florida.. they should Google "Bebe" Robozo and Richard Nixon and the land deals of General Development.

That old joke about about someone selling you high and dry swamp land in Florida... was/is no joke.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swampland_in_Florida

[Edweird]

4. I know, right? Our rivers are always catching on fire......

[Deja Q]

6. Get Bob Dole to sell them some viagra. Bob Dole says Bob Dole's not been soft in years thanks to it

:yoiks: