Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaJanuary 24, 2017

The Department of Environmental Protection has withdrawn a request to lawmakers for more money to pay lawyers waging a water use fight against Georgia, its spokeswoman says. The department had planned to ask lawmakers for an additional $13 million to pay expected legal bills from the still-unresolved case. The Joint Legislative Budget Commission was scheduled to take up […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 24, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott suggested he wasn’t bothered by one of his agency heads overseeing the flow of millions of dollars to a law firm that he’s now going to work for. Scott spoke to reporters after Tuesday’s Florida Cabinet meeting. “We have people that come to work for the state and they work hard,” Scott […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 23, 2017

House Speaker Richard Corcoran late Monday said his chamber won’t agree to hand over any more money for the Department of Environmental Protection to pay its legal bills until the agency gives a full accounting of what’s already been spent. Corcoran was reacting to the DEP’s request to the Joint Legislative Budget Commission for an additional $13 million to pay outside legal […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 23, 2017

The state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has busted its outside legal expenses budget over the ongoing ‘water war’ between Georgia and Florida, legislative records show. It’s asking for an additional $13 million from the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, which meets Tuesday — and even that may not be enough. Gov. Rick Scott‘s office approved the request […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 21, 2017

Jon Steverson, the Secretary of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection under Gov. Rick Scott, has resigned. His departure was confirmed Friday night by McKinley Lewis, Scott’s deputy communications director, who provided a copy of the resignation letter. Steverson is set to join the legal-lobbying firm Foley & Lardner, sources tell FloridaPolitics.com. Herschel Vineyard, who also served as a DEP Secretary, […]

Associated PressDecember 31, 2016

A Florida administrative law judge says a rule requiring companies to notify the public of pollution events within 24 hours is invalid. The new rule was pushed by Gov. Rick Scott after it took weeks for the public to be notified about a giant sinkhole at a fertilizer plant that sent millions of gallons of […]

Jim RosicaDecember 20, 2016

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Lisa Edgar has helped regulate the state’s investor-owned utilities. Now, she’s going to oversee its parks. Edgar was named Director of the Florida Park Service, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced Tuesday in a press release. She’ll start next month. “From my time at DEP and as a frequent visitor of our state parks, I’ve seen first-hand the […]

Associated PressNovember 11, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump has not minced words about his approach to environment and energy policy: He loathes regulation and wants to increase the use of coal, offshore drilling and fracking. Trump has said he believes climate change is a hoax and that he would “cancel” U.S. involvement in the landmark Paris Agreement on global warming. […]

Associated PressOctober 10, 2016

When Christa Savva returned to the Sandy Shoes Beach Resort a day after Hurricane Matthew brushed by Melbourne Beach, Florida, she looked at the beach in front of the pink-flamingo-colored hotel and noticed that half the sand dunes had disappeared. Savva guesses three-quarters of the missing dunes washed into the ocean, and the remaining quarter […]

Tamara LushSeptember 29, 2016

Neighbors of a huge sinkhole sending cascades of contaminated water and fertilizer plant waste into Florida’s main drinking-water aquifer are fearful and fuming that it took weeks for them to be notified about the disaster. Many are still waiting anxiously for results from tests for radiation and toxic chemicals in their well water. Meanwhile, the […]

Tag: Department of Environmental Protection

DEP withdraws request to pay lawyers in ‘water war’

Rick Scott not bothered by Jon Steverson’s departure

Richard Corcoran: House won’t OK legal money for DEP

“Water wars” could cost the state another $13M in legal fees

Jon Steverson resigns as DEP secretary

Judge invalidates pollution notification rule

Personnel note: Lisa Edgar named state parks director

Donald Trump likely to try to reverse Barack Obama’s environment initiatives

Storm wipes out Florida sand crucial for protection, tourism

Outcry grows over delay in warning about Mosaic sinkhole, contamination