The Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) recently joined a letter with 26 other associations, companies, and interest groups, where we address Johnathan P. Stevenson, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), on the proposed pollution incident reporting rule. FHBA contends that the adopted emergency rule is an overreach of authority and that less costly alternatives exist. Click here to review the letter.
The proposed pollution incident reporting rule requires entities reporting spills to DEP to also report such spills to the media if the spill may threaten human health or the environment. However, DEP has failed to provide guidance on the quantity of spillage or the specific type of chemical spill that would trigger media reporting.
What this means to you – without revisions to this proposed DEP rule, spills into holding ponds on construction sites could require reporting to the media.
We believe there are alternatives to having every Florida business maintain a media contact and the scientific expertise to determine if a spill threatens human health or the environment. A less expensive alternative is to require DEP, as the regulating entity and to whom such spills must be reported, determine if health or the environment is impacted and subsequently notify the media.
As a member, your voice will be heard at the DEP Rule Workshop when this rule will be addressed. Douglas Buck, FHBA Director of Governmental Affairs, will testify tomorrow, Tuesday, October 25, and express our concerns and offer alternatives to the rule. For more information on the proposed rule and its hearings, click here.
Questions? Contact Rusty Payton, CEO/Chief Lobbyist, at rpayton@fhba.com or Douglas Buck at dbuck@fhba.com.