Guest commentary: Ask governor to support safe waters in Florida
HB 165 — Sampling of Beach Waters and Public Bathing Spaces (a.k.a. the Safe Waterway’s Act) introduced by Reps. Peggy Gossett-Seidman and Lindsay Cross passed both the House and the Senate this session and has been delivered to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.
We need your help with a final show of support to ask the governor to sign this good bill.
This beneficial bill has been three years in the making and is designed to improve public notification of potential hazards as it relates to swimming only at beaches and “public bathing places” — the legal term used for designated public swimming areas. It requires timely and visible notice of water quality impairments from sources such as malfunctioning sewage treatment plants, septic tank leaks and animal waste.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION REQUIRED BY BILL
– Municipalities and counties must notify the Florida Department of Health (DOH) of any incident that negatively impacts the quality of beach waters or public swimming places within their respective jurisdictions within 24 hours.
– Municipalities and counties must post and maintain health advisory signs around affected beach waters and public bathing places that they own.
– Public boat docks, marinas and piers must notify the jurisdictional municipality or county of any incident that negatively impacts the quality of beach waters where they are located within 24 hours or the next business day.
– The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) must post and maintain health advisory signs around affected beach waters and public bathing places owned by the state.
– The DOH must coordinate with the DEP and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as necessary to implement the signage requirements of the bill. Signage be posted and maintained in compliance with this subsection until the health advisory is no longer in effect.
The governor has until the end of this week to either sign or veto this bill. Due to the very tight timeline, we ask that you contact his office as soon as possible with the simple message to support safe water in Florida by signing HB 165:
– Email: https://www.flgov.com/email-the-governor/
– Call: (850) 488-7146
– Visit: https://p2a.co/bQwdgOa
Thank you for your support!
Founded in 1967, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s mission is to protect and care for Southwest Florida’s coastal ecosystems. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.
To reach SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION, please email