Gov. DeSantis appoints 6 to Environmental Regulation Commission, including a big donor

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six people to the Environmental Regulation Committee (ERC). Three gave to his last gubernatorial campaign. One donated five figures.

The big donor and new member of the ERC — which sets Florida’s air and water quality standards — is Eric Buermann, a Key Largo lawyer previously appointed to the South Florida Water Management District and Miami River Commission Policy Committee.

In 2022, he spent $27,500 to help keep DeSantis in the Governor’s Mansion, Division of Elections records show.

Buermann is a past recipient of the Tropical Audubon Society’s Dan Beard Environmental Award, according to the Governor’s Office.

Other ERC appointees included:

— Thomas Frazer, dean of the College of Marine Science and a professor at the University of South Florida. He previously served as Florida’s Chief Science Officer and was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in 2022.

— Jim McCarthy, Senior Vice President of Quick Tie Products and a past President of the North Florida Land Trust. McCarthy also served on the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and, according to state records, gave DeSantis $100 in 2022.

— Kellie Ralston, Vice President of Conservation and Public Policy for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. A past director of southeast fisheries policy for the American Sportfishing Association, state and federal campaign finance records show she gave $500 to DeSantis in 2022 and $1,000 last year to his presidential campaign.

— Cari Roth, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Lykes Brothers Inc. and a former shareholder at Dean Mead and Bryant Miller Olive Law Firms.

— John Truitt, a shareholder at GrayRobinson P.A. He is a past Deputy Secretary for regulatory programs and chief adviser for environmental and regulatory policy for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.